Speaker 1: Welcome in What's Right with Nick Wright Episode three thirty five,
Speaker 1: As we have one half of the NBA Final set.
Speaker 1: We did Tuesday's show as if that half of the
Speaker 1: Finals was already set after Oklahoma City escaped in Game
Speaker 1: four against Minnesota because we thought Game five might go
Speaker 1: the exact way it did. We will get to that.
Speaker 1: We will also get to Demanse. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: want to step on something. You're going to be asking
Speaker 1: me in a moment, but Rick Richard Jefferson, Oh, Demonse's
Speaker 1: not locked in right now. We have technical difficulties. If
Speaker 1: you can hear me, great, If not, I'll just talk
Speaker 1: to myself. The Richard Jefferson, I mean American hero getting
Speaker 1: the what my take of the year name dropped during
Speaker 1: a Conference finals broadcast. More on that in a moment.
Speaker 1: First we'll get to what missed the cut? Demanse. Back
Speaker 1: in it, I thought Demons was just uninterested in what
Speaker 1: I was saying. Turns out he was. Look he was
Speaker 1: texting furiously trying to get his audio working. But what
Speaker 1: missed the cut? Today College Football twenty six cover has
Speaker 1: been revealed. The Bears want Caleb to fix his body language.
Speaker 1: That's a fair critique and somebody want a cheese rolling contest.
Speaker 1: This is put that in the bucket of stories. The
Speaker 1: producers wish I was interested in speaking. By the way,
Speaker 1: he started to do this on the cheese rolling stuff,
Speaker 1: I understand people are into it. I'm not into it.
Speaker 1: I understand other people are into it. I should have
Speaker 1: asked you guys this beforehand. Let me try this on
Speaker 1: my own, on your guys in and on for our
Speaker 1: people watching live on YouTube. And by the way, like great,
Speaker 1: subscribe review there we go. For some reason, my return
Speaker 1: was all fuzzy, but now it looks fine to me. Yeah,
Speaker 1: subscribe on YouTube. I don't know. Are we up to
Speaker 1: two hundred and ten thousand yet? We gotta be close.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna check right now, we're doing it.
Speaker 1: Subscribe on iTunes Spotify two hundred and seven thousand and change,
Speaker 1: So that's good. I don't know when two fifty can
Speaker 1: be expected. We'd love to get there by I don't know.
Speaker 2: Thanksgivings, Oh, Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: I was gonna say Thanksgiving. Yeah, No, maybe you're right.
Speaker 1: I'm just shooting. I'm just giving a you know, a
Speaker 1: request out there. But let's get to an utterly and
Speaker 1: thoroughly dominant game, which is, by the way, what the
Speaker 1: thunder have been doing at home this entire postseason, which
Speaker 1: was another thing we discussed on Tuesday. Demons go ahead.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I just want to apologize for being childish and
Speaker 3: asking if Minnesota could have potentially came back playing around
Speaker 3: with that question.
Speaker 2: Is obvious that that was not possible.
Speaker 3: Alsten, Oklahoma City dominated Minnesota last night. The defense was humming.
Speaker 3: All of OKC stars were looking good. I want to
Speaker 3: talk about the probability of this being a dynasty. You
Speaker 3: think they should hold the brakes on it or is
Speaker 3: ODC gutting for here? Historically?
Speaker 1: Well, listen, they are four wins away Demons from one
Speaker 1: of the single greatest seasons in NBA history. Like that
Speaker 1: part is that has to be There's two real metrics
Speaker 1: for two hard metrics for how good your seat, like
Speaker 1: how good your season was, and then some softer metrics.
Speaker 1: But the first one is how many games did you win?
Speaker 1: What was your record? And they have now become the
Speaker 1: fourth team ever to enter the finals with eighty victories.
Speaker 1: And now when we go long to long term history,
Speaker 1: you got to recognize that the playoffs have expanded a
Speaker 1: bit and changed but a shorthand. You know, the ninety
Speaker 1: six Bulls who won seventy two regular season games did it.
Speaker 1: The ninety seven Bulls who won sixty nine regular season
Speaker 1: games did it. And the seventy three win Warriors who
Speaker 1: won seventy three regular season games but did not win
Speaker 1: the championship. They all did it. They all got to
Speaker 1: eighty wins before the start of the NBA Finals. So
Speaker 1: check off that box. As far as you know, that's
Speaker 1: really a regular season stat. It means how many regular
Speaker 1: season wins did you get, But we already knew sixty
Speaker 1: eight wins. The list of teams to win more than
Speaker 1: sixty eight games in a single season are those two
Speaker 1: seventy the seventy two win Balls, the sixty nine win
Speaker 1: Balls that I mentioned, the seventy three win war and
Speaker 1: then one other team, the sixty nine Lakers that they
Speaker 1: went on to win the championship. That's every team that
Speaker 1: won more regular season games than these thunder The teams
Speaker 1: to win sixty eight games are also at least well,
Speaker 1: one of them is an all time team. The other
Speaker 1: one came up short to the Knicks in the conference finals.
Speaker 1: You have the eighty three Sixers, who I'm sorry, not
Speaker 1: the eighty three sixers, the sixty seven sixers, the eighty
Speaker 1: three sixers that were. I put them there because I
Speaker 1: think they're one of the greatest teams ever, the faux
Speaker 1: Fox Fox Sixers, but that was not they were not
Speaker 1: the dominant regular season team. These teams were. And then
Speaker 1: the seventy three Celtics, which came up short, and then
Speaker 1: this thunder team. If we lower the threshold to sixty
Speaker 1: seven wins, then it gets a little fuzzier because you
Speaker 1: have some great teams and some not so great teams.
Speaker 1: Sixty seven wins, the eighty six Celtics in the short
Speaker 1: on the short list of greatest team of all time, Like,
Speaker 1: that's pretty undeniable that you've got to at least include
Speaker 1: them when you are discussing who are the greatest teams
Speaker 1: of all time? The eighty six Celtics have to be
Speaker 1: on that list. The ninety two Bowls, who I actually
Speaker 1: think might be maybe the best of the Bulls teams
Speaker 1: that finished off the first three peat. There's at least
Speaker 1: an argument there. The two thousand Lakers, the first championship
Speaker 1: with Shaq and Kobe, the twenty fifteen Warriors, which is
Speaker 1: the first championship with Steph, the twenty seventeen Warriors, the
Speaker 1: first championship with Stephan Durant, and then a couple teams.
Speaker 1: One that gets kind of is a punchline, and the
Speaker 1: other is an all time great team that ran up
Speaker 1: against another all time great team. The punchline is the
Speaker 1: seven MAVs who lost in round one after winning sixty
Speaker 1: seven games. For that we believe Warriors, and the other
Speaker 1: one is the twenty sixteen Spurs who just happened to
Speaker 1: be it. I mean that team was unbelievable. They got
Speaker 1: clipped in round two by the twenty sixteen Thunder who
Speaker 1: then ran into the twenty sixteen Warriors, who then ran
Speaker 1: into Pekee Lebron James. But so to do this quickly,
Speaker 1: teams to win sixty seven plus you have first year
Speaker 1: Steph won a title, first year Stephan kd won a
Speaker 1: title together, you have the first year Shaq and Kobe
Speaker 1: won a title. You have Jordan's Bulls the third time
Speaker 1: they won a title, and the best Celtics team of
Speaker 1: all time, the eighty six Celtics. Those are the sixty
Speaker 1: seven win teams plus the two with that I just
Speaker 1: mentioned that didn't win the title. The sixty eight win
Speaker 1: teams are this year's Thunder, and then you add to
Speaker 1: it the seventy three Celtics not you know, at a
Speaker 1: disappointing playoffs, and then sixty seven six Ers with Wilt
Speaker 1: won the title, and then sixty nine win teams Jordan's
Speaker 1: Bowls the fifth championship, the Laker team that had the
Speaker 1: thirty three game winning streak in seventy two, the ninety
Speaker 1: six Bulls won seventy two, and then the Warriors the
Speaker 1: seventy three win Warriors. So that's the company they keep.
Speaker 1: So there's one kind of hard piece of data, how
Speaker 1: many games did you win? The other one is were
Speaker 1: you blowing people out? And teams that finished the year
Speaker 1: with a ten plus point differential. It is last year's Celtics,
Speaker 1: and then the eight Celtics, Kareem's Bucks in seventy one,
Speaker 1: the Durant first year Durant Warriors, that other Warriors team
Speaker 1: the first year they won the title, the Bowls a
Speaker 1: couple times, and the Lakers in seventy two. The Thunder
Speaker 1: beaten teams this year by almost thirteen points per game,
Speaker 1: so they check both of the hard metric boxes. You
Speaker 1: then add the kind of softer factors. How good was
Speaker 1: the league in that time? I think the league's as
Speaker 1: talented as it's ever been. What was their path to
Speaker 1: the finals and to a championship? That one probably cuts
Speaker 1: against them a bit. They are not going through legendary
Speaker 1: opponents en route, and they won't face a legendary opponent
Speaker 1: in the finals. They did, however, go through a legendary
Speaker 1: player in Joker, and that was a classic seven game series.
Speaker 1: Another kind of soft factor. Did they have an all
Speaker 1: time player on their team all time? I don't know yet,
Speaker 1: but the guy who had the best season this year
Speaker 1: and Shae, Yeah they did. I mean, Shay was unbelievable
Speaker 1: in the regular season, has been almost as good in
Speaker 1: the playoffs.
Speaker 2: Would not have would not have an all time player
Speaker 2: make it a better feat.
Speaker 1: It might make it more impressive, but it's hard to argue.
Speaker 1: When you're talking about the best single seasons in NBA history.
Speaker 1: It's and I left out some of the sixty six
Speaker 1: win teams, and some of the best teams ever were
Speaker 1: sixty six win teams. Lebron's Heat that had the twenty
Speaker 1: seven game winning streak I mentioned earlier the eight Celtics,
Speaker 1: which were awesome. Those were the margin of victories. I
Speaker 1: mentioned Kareem's bucks that you know there are some a
Speaker 1: couple Lakers teams, one with Magic, one with Kobe. Oh
Speaker 1: those were sixty five, not sixty six, but it would
Speaker 1: make it more impressive. Maybe demands. But when we're talking
Speaker 1: about who the greatest teams of all time are, and
Speaker 1: if we're trying to do the hypothetical if they were
Speaker 1: to match up against each other, right right, you want
Speaker 1: to be able to say our guy can at least
Speaker 1: kind of look eye to eye with your guy. And
Speaker 1: if your guy is peak Wilt Chamberlain or peak Michael Jordan,
Speaker 1: or peak Larry Bird, and my guy is Chauncey Billers
Speaker 1: and again, and I'm just picking a team that won
Speaker 1: the title, even though they're not in the all time
Speaker 1: team discussion. That's gonna be a harder argument to make.
Speaker 1: Shay is making an argument that he's building an all
Speaker 1: time resume. It's a weird one because of how he
Speaker 1: started and it was a slow progression, but he's just
Speaker 1: gotten better and better and better every single year. So
Speaker 1: I am okay with saying this is an all time
Speaker 1: single season. I am not okay with saying this is
Speaker 1: an all time team because what the other all time
Speaker 1: teams had was stacked accomplishments, you know, multiple finals, appearances,
Speaker 1: multiple championships, and the teams kind of bleed together. But
Speaker 1: single season it's that. But that thing gets us to
Speaker 1: the point you were making. And I understand Pacer fans maybe,
Speaker 1: or Nick fans even, or like, my god, you're acting
Speaker 1: like they won the championship yesterday, And to that I
Speaker 1: would say, no, I'm not. I actually acted like they
Speaker 1: won the championship on Monday night, because to me, they
Speaker 1: did that was the end of the competitive portion of
Speaker 1: this year's NBA season. And that's not to say the
Speaker 1: Pacers are the Knicks can't beat them in a game.
Speaker 1: But when a team has home court and that team
Speaker 1: beats people in the playoffs at home by fifty one, nineteen,
Speaker 1: forty three, seven, thirty two, twenty six, fifteen, and thirty
Speaker 1: with one loss coming on a buzzer beater, they're gonna
Speaker 1: win the championship when they also are a team that
Speaker 1: can if it were to happen. Demon's deal with injury
Speaker 1: better than any other team, and now they can't deal
Speaker 1: with an injury to Shay, But nobody can lose their
Speaker 1: best player. They could, but they they could lose j
Speaker 1: Dub or Chet and still win the championship. No much
Speaker 1: less lose what I mean, go ahead?
Speaker 3: Oh no, yeah, I don't know. I feel like Chet
Speaker 3: is such a presence. Chet losing Check probably put them.
Speaker 1: Oh, I think it would change them, but I wouldn't.
Speaker 1: Like I wouldn't write them off any of these other
Speaker 1: teams if they lost one of their three best guys,
Speaker 1: you would basically just write them off. You couldn't do
Speaker 1: it with this team because of how deep they are.
Speaker 1: So I have and I'm not trying to give myself
Speaker 1: credit here, I am trying to reminded the audience. I
Speaker 1: guess I was not one of the loud Thunder skeptics. Now.
Speaker 1: I didn't pick them to win the championship because I
Speaker 1: thought the Lakers could beat them. After I saw the
Speaker 1: Lakers beat them in a game the Thunder wanted, and
Speaker 1: then the Lakers play them to a tie until Luca
Speaker 1: got kicked out, and I was like, Okay, I think
Speaker 1: the Lakers are the one team that can give them
Speaker 1: real problems. Maybe Boston. But I thought the Thunder were
Speaker 1: a legitimate championship caliber team all year, and the moment
Speaker 1: the Lakers went out, I said, I think they're going
Speaker 1: to win the title. With all that said, I think
Speaker 1: the dynasty talk is so silly, and I understand folks
Speaker 1: argument is they are set up so well. And I
Speaker 1: will just make the point that I made on Tuesday again.
Speaker 1: We think think every team almost is set up so
Speaker 1: well when they're in the midst of winning, and to
Speaker 1: which some people will reply, yeah, but those teams weren't
Speaker 1: as young. That's true that the Bucks in twenty twenty one,
Speaker 1: or the Nuggets in twenty twenty three, or even the
Speaker 1: Celtics last year weren't as young. However, with the Bucks
Speaker 1: and the Nuggets, we did feel like their best player
Speaker 1: was in already in once they won the title, the
Speaker 1: historically great conversation, and Shay isn't quite in that yet.
Speaker 1: Like we thought, yes, this Thunder team's younger, but we
Speaker 1: thought that Giannis and Joker in that moment were a
Speaker 1: tick above where Shay is in this moment. And the
Speaker 1: other argument people are going to make is yes, but
Speaker 1: the nugget it's for the Thunder, it's all that draft
Speaker 1: capital that they have, and that is true, but it's
Speaker 1: also a little misleading. So the Thunder's draft capital is
Speaker 1: more quantity than quality. So I'm going to go through
Speaker 1: it just too. And this is courtesy of real GM
Speaker 1: to remind people what they have, because what you're going
Speaker 1: to see is it's a ton of stuff, and it's
Speaker 1: a ton of stuff that theoretically they could use in trades.
Speaker 1: But it's not like, oh man, that could be the
Speaker 1: third pick of the draft. Okay, so this year they
Speaker 1: have the fifteenth pick for Miami and the twenty fourth
Speaker 1: pick from the Clippers. At least I think fact check
Speaker 1: me in the because I don't have this year's pulled up.
Speaker 1: Fact check me in the doc if I'm wrong about
Speaker 1: this year. But they the then next year, what they
Speaker 1: have They have Houston's pick next season protected one through four,
Speaker 1: so Houston. We think Houston's going to be quite good
Speaker 1: next year, So a late pick next year, and then
Speaker 1: they have I want to make sure I get this right,
Speaker 1: the Clippers pick next year. So I think the Clippers
Speaker 1: showed us this year that they are going to be
Speaker 1: at least a credible team, and so are those are
Speaker 1: fine picks, but none of those appear or feel like
Speaker 1: those are going to be uh, you know, lottery top
Speaker 1: ten picks, right, And then they have Phillies pick next
Speaker 1: year potentially, and again they only get two of these,
Speaker 1: so these are the best ones they could get Phillies
Speaker 1: pick if it falls outside of the top four and
Speaker 1: Utah's pick if it falls outside of the top eight.
Speaker 1: The moral of the story is next year they are
Speaker 1: gonna have a bunch of extra picks, and they all
Speaker 1: look like they are not going to be lottery picks
Speaker 1: because Utah is the only team on that list that
Speaker 1: is likely going to be in the lottery, and Utah
Speaker 1: likely is going to be able to keep their pick
Speaker 1: because it'll be in the top eight. In twenty twenty seven,
Speaker 1: they again they get the Clippers pick, and that's unprotected.
Speaker 1: Maybe that could be good maybe, And Denver's pick, which
Speaker 1: assuming Joker doesn't retire, is not going to be that good.
Speaker 1: And in twenty twenty eight they can swap with Dallas again.
Speaker 1: Do we think Dallas, now that they have Cooper Flag
Speaker 1: and Anthony Davis is there, that that's going to be
Speaker 1: a top five pick. No, And then that's really I
Speaker 1: think they have one more Denver pick later. But again,
Speaker 1: unless we think Joker is going to retire. So the
Speaker 1: point I'm making in a somewhat convoluted fashion is it's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, but it's not great stuff. Now
Speaker 1: the argument there would be demons. Yeah, but they can
Speaker 1: package that stuff for a star. And that then gets
Speaker 1: to to me the next interesting domino for the Thunder,
Speaker 1: which is, yeah, are they going to want to be expensive?
Speaker 1: Are they going to want to for the first time
Speaker 1: in franchise history, be a big luxury tax butt up
Speaker 1: against the APRN type of team. And my answer to
Speaker 1: that question is I don't see why they would now.
Speaker 1: And you can say, well, they want to chick correct,
Speaker 1: they didn't want to pay it then. And you can
Speaker 1: be like, well, but now they've won a championship. That
Speaker 1: could cut either way. Maybe you would be like, they
Speaker 1: want a championship now they just want to win, win, win.
Speaker 1: They also want to be like, we want a championship
Speaker 1: without having a super expensive team, so why do we
Speaker 1: need one? And so it is a different NBA guys,
Speaker 1: and it's a different NBA. Also in this regard the
Speaker 1: onl like the guys who have reeled off a bunch
Speaker 1: are guys who are top ten all time players. The
Speaker 1: one guy who is pretty consensus outside of the top
Speaker 1: ten who reeled off even two is Isaiah Thomas, and
Speaker 1: he's firmly in the top twenty, but outside the top ten.
Speaker 1: So Joker would have checked those boxes. Little unlucky some
Speaker 1: Jamal Murray's injuries, you know, Jannis could have potentially little unlucky.
Speaker 1: Uh didn't have you know, this type of pick bounty though,
Speaker 1: to be fair in Milwaukee to make up for some
Speaker 1: of those mistakes. And I'm not saying Shay is not Shaye.
Speaker 1: I said all year was the MVP. But it is
Speaker 1: surprising to me how many people who a month ago
Speaker 1: were quite convince the Celtics were about to reel off
Speaker 1: a bunch of championships are now convinced the thunder are
Speaker 1: about to reel off a bunch of championships. And so
Speaker 1: I you know too long, didn't listen all time single
Speaker 1: season team. Yes, set up pretty well for the future. Yes,
Speaker 1: going to win this championship without a doubt. Yes. Ready
Speaker 1: to pencil them in for multiple titles. No, So that's
Speaker 1: where I land on Oklahoma City. They will be in
Speaker 1: the mix for years to come. But as a lot
Speaker 1: of teams can attest in the mix doesn't really buy
Speaker 1: you anything in the modern NBA.
Speaker 3: So if they were in the same situation next year,
Speaker 3: you'd be a little bit more at it or ready.
Speaker 2: To call it a dynasty. I think, oh, yeah.
Speaker 1: They're back in the finals next year, because that's the
Speaker 1: other thing. We haven't had a defending champ make the finals.
Speaker 1: We haven't had a defending champ make round three since
Speaker 1: the Durant Steph Warriors. Think about that. We haven't had
Speaker 1: a defending champ even come close to defending their championship
Speaker 1: in seven years. So yeah, if they were Hell, if
Speaker 1: they just get back to the conference finals next year,
Speaker 1: that'll be noteworthy. We haven't had anybody do.
Speaker 2: It, right, I don't see any reason.
Speaker 3: I feel like, Okay, so he's more likely to have
Speaker 3: learned their last lesson from breaking up their last Big
Speaker 3: three than to straight I don't want to think. I
Speaker 3: don't think they're more players on top of.
Speaker 1: It, correct. I don't think are going to break this
Speaker 1: crew up between now and next year. My guess is
Speaker 1: they run it back. But so did Boston, so did Milwaukee.
Speaker 1: You're like, you know what I mean, Like most of
Speaker 1: these TEAMSS did exactly that the defense has been great.
Speaker 1: All right, what let's do some follow ups here?
Speaker 3: Do you think SGA, JAB and CHET are the best
Speaker 3: trio in the league right now?
Speaker 1: It's it's not only demands and I should have probably
Speaker 1: prepped this question a little more. It's not only that
Speaker 1: I think they're the best trio.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, there's really no other trios.
Speaker 1: Right, That's the thing, Like, who like the other teams
Speaker 1: that would argue they have a trio? I guess the
Speaker 1: Calves like it's a it's a trio. Boston is a
Speaker 1: duo with really good supporting.
Speaker 3: That's what dat want to throw Derek White in there,
Speaker 3: like maybe.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but yeah, but it's not you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: like the Knicks are a duo. The Pacers are, in
Speaker 1: my opinion, a duo. Like again, I like their supporting
Speaker 1: cast a lot, but to me, the trademark of a trio.
Speaker 1: I'm kind of making this up on the fly, but
Speaker 1: I just thought of it. It makes sense. It's where
Speaker 1: there's a real argument on who the second best guy
Speaker 1: is that there could be, you know what I mean
Speaker 1: like that some nights it's one like so the the
Speaker 1: Bucks win healthy are a duo. Right, and then we
Speaker 1: go to the West. The Rockets, I don't even know
Speaker 1: if they're a like they have shingoon and a bunch
Speaker 1: of really nice complimentary pieces. The Lakers are a duo,
Speaker 1: like there is. Austin Reeves is a nice third player,
Speaker 1: but we know who their top two guys are.
Speaker 2: Say it again, The Maps could end up being a
Speaker 2: trio next.
Speaker 1: Year because a Cooper flag.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but they unless you want to say Kyrie is
Speaker 3: getting a little older.
Speaker 1: Well, remember Kyrie is going to be out.
Speaker 2: Next season at all.
Speaker 1: I didn't know, well, I mean he was out for
Speaker 1: next season entirely. Well no, no, no, he's not out for
Speaker 1: all of next season. But I mean he tore his
Speaker 1: acl you know, at with a month left in this season,
Speaker 1: so he's going to be out at least in the beginning.
Speaker 1: But the Nuggets are a duo, The Clippers are a duo.
Speaker 1: The Warriors are a duo that you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: like eies. So there are no It's not only that
Speaker 1: the Thunder or the best trio. The Thunder might be
Speaker 1: the only trio. And then there's the Calves, who are
Speaker 1: really a quartet because of Donovan Garland Mobley and Allen,
Speaker 1: but it doesn't quite work. It would appear you know what.
Speaker 1: So yeah, they are clearly the best trio.
Speaker 2: In the league.
Speaker 3: The next one, who is okay see rooting for you
Speaker 3: think New York or the Pacers?
Speaker 1: H Well, tonight they are definitely rooting for New York
Speaker 1: the next two games because what they want is the
Speaker 1: to have a huge rest.
Speaker 3: I feel like if I were, if I were okay see,
Speaker 3: I'd be rooting for New York to get to the finals.
Speaker 2: Tell me why. I just think it'd be an easier matchup.
Speaker 3: I think like I like the Pacers more and I
Speaker 3: think they put up more of a fight against ok See.
Speaker 1: You did pick the Pacers to beat the Knicks, didn't you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, in the in the last uh our last part
Speaker 3: said oh those Pacers and six, Well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you might have sold them short. They might
Speaker 1: end up we'll see if they gets the six. So
Speaker 1: I think that it's definite. The Thunder would rather the
Speaker 1: Knicks win the next two games just so it goes seven.
Speaker 1: But I also think you're right. The Pacers are just
Speaker 1: they play such a breakneck style. Now that would be
Speaker 1: it'd be fun Pacers Thunder. That's the number one offense
Speaker 1: against the number one defense. But the other reason the Pacers.
Speaker 1: Maybe I should and maybe I should be giving the
Speaker 1: Pacers a bigger chance than I'm giving them as I'm
Speaker 1: already talking about the Thunder. Is this all time team?
Speaker 1: And also maybe it's bad strategy as a podcaster, because
Speaker 1: then what what topics am I supposed to do the
Speaker 1: days after the Thunder win the championship? I've already done
Speaker 1: it is the Pacers don't turn the ball over because
Speaker 1: Haliber doesn't turn the ball over. Yeah, and that's where
Speaker 1: the Thunder, you know, dominate teams.
Speaker 3: And more liabilities on New York's defense than the Pacers
Speaker 3: in my opinion. So it's like, would you as the
Speaker 3: offense on Okay, see.
Speaker 1: That there's no question about all right, we should have
Speaker 1: probably led with this follow up demanse.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so last night you got a shout out on
Speaker 3: the broadcast. Richard Jefferson came out and said Nick Wright
Speaker 3: said something really smart yesterday about your take of the year.
Speaker 3: It's an automatic, it's an automatic review. So how did
Speaker 3: you feel about that cloud Chaser?
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, shout out, r J.
Speaker 2: Shout out.
Speaker 1: It's like, I mean, little known fact in the first
Speaker 1: iteration of first Things First, Richard Jefferson was an in
Speaker 1: studio guest a handful of times. Yeah, yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: Richard Jefferson used to come in studio with us. I
Speaker 1: like him a lot, Yeah, I like him a lot.
Speaker 1: But he and I, he and I haven't like talked
Speaker 1: in person, probably since before the pandemic, you know, the
Speaker 1: I'm not at as when I go to NBA games,
Speaker 1: I have tickets, not press passes, so I can't get
Speaker 1: down on the floor. And you know, he and I
Speaker 1: obviously work for different companies, but I think our Jay
Speaker 1: is awesome. And I happen to think the Breen RJ.
Speaker 1: Doris Booth has gotten a little too much flack, especially
Speaker 1: when and now again it might be for me it's
Speaker 1: just a nice respite from the Reggie commentary. But I I.
Speaker 2: Like him on the trio him too.
Speaker 1: People are wistful about Van Gundy and Jackson, like but
Speaker 1: Van Gundy, Jackson and Breen worked together for so long,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean that they had such a
Speaker 1: rapport in a chemistry that just takes time to build.
Speaker 1: But set that aside. Richard Jefferson bringing to a massive
Speaker 1: audience the idea that hey, let guys challenge when they
Speaker 1: want to challenge. And I don't think Breen initially totally
Speaker 1: understood it, because Breen was.
Speaker 2: Like, oh no, I.
Speaker 1: But I think Breen didn't necessarily, I mean, because RJ
Speaker 1: couldn't explain it in full in that moment, and then
Speaker 1: he tried to explain it a bit. I don't think
Speaker 1: he understood that you would still have a limit, your
Speaker 1: same limited amount of challenges one wrong or two maximum.
Speaker 1: So I think Breen's initial reaction was, Man, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be challenging every play, which is why he had such
Speaker 1: an allergy to it. But when you again, there's a
Speaker 1: sometime it's not often, it's a little often, but it's
Speaker 1: not always. I have an idea and I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: this is people are going to immediately respond to this.
Speaker 1: Sometimes I think they're going to respond negatively, and sometimes like,
Speaker 1: people are going to love this, And it is really gratifying.
Speaker 1: In such a uh populated take landscape, where there's so
Speaker 1: many people giving so many opinions at all hours of
Speaker 1: every day, it's very hard to actually say something no
Speaker 1: one is said and so yeah, and so the fact
Speaker 1: that I was able to kind of plant my flag
Speaker 1: on that and then have RJ publicize it to a
Speaker 1: wider audience.
Speaker 3: Right, Cloye, absolutely, And I haven't even played our Let
Speaker 3: me try to see if I can get our friend
Speaker 3: of the pod, Michelle Roberts, to set up a meeting
Speaker 3: with me and Commissioner Silver to.
Speaker 1: Just pitch a few of these ideas. All right, let's
Speaker 1: go to the Minnesota side of things.
Speaker 3: All right, Yeah, So Minnesota they got their butts whipped
Speaker 3: last night in the Western Conference Finals for a second
Speaker 3: year in a row. Do we think that this is
Speaker 3: their ceiling that they need add any pieces? What's going
Speaker 3: on here? Can they break through?
Speaker 1: Well? No, I this clearly is this iteration of this
Speaker 1: team ceiling, Like that's obvious. But the way they get
Speaker 1: to a higher level is ant improofs. And I'm not
Speaker 1: putting this series like on ant For as good as
Speaker 1: Julius was the first two rounds, he kind of came
Speaker 1: crashing back down to earth in the Conference finals, which
Speaker 1: is a bummer. And you know, Minnesota already cleaned up
Speaker 1: their book looks a bit by trading towns, like the
Speaker 1: town's trade was somewhat about shaking the snow globe, But
Speaker 1: it was also about getting off that contract. Now they're
Speaker 1: in a tricky spot because I think a lot of
Speaker 1: people thought Julius Randall was going to opt in to
Speaker 1: his thirty one million dollars next year. Was he good
Speaker 1: enough in this playoffs that he opts out and looks
Speaker 1: for a longer deal, and does Minnesota want to give
Speaker 1: that to him? I don't. Nas Reed is definitely opting
Speaker 1: out and definitely getting money from somewhere. I think they're
Speaker 1: not going to be able to keep both of those guys,
Speaker 1: but what they do have, and then also Nikhil Alexander
Speaker 1: Walker is also it could heal leave That's a question mark.
Speaker 1: But Ant is locked, go Bet is locked, Jaden is locked,
Speaker 1: Dante is locked. Conley has got one year left, assuming
Speaker 1: he doesn't. I mean, he could retire, but that would
Speaker 1: just be him giving up eleven million bucks. Rob Dillingham
Speaker 1: their draft pick from this year. You know he'll be back,
Speaker 1: and I like Terren Shannon another draft pick. So I
Speaker 1: think they are, you know, positioned fine. And I'm not
Speaker 1: acting as if Aunt let him down or anything like that.
Speaker 1: My point is the way they get to the next
Speaker 1: step is their twenty three year old be better in
Speaker 1: year twenty four than he was in year twenty three,
Speaker 1: and that this is this is a point that I
Speaker 1: that I made yesterday on TV, but I want to
Speaker 1: make it again here. When Shay was Aunt's age, he
Speaker 1: had won zero playoff games. When Yiannis and Jokic were
Speaker 1: Ant's age, they had never been to a conference finals.
Speaker 1: So it I don't think it's fair to act like
Speaker 1: Ants anything other than ahead of schedule. I also think
Speaker 1: it would be silly to act like he doesn't for
Speaker 1: them to get to the next level. He doesn't need
Speaker 1: to improve, but he said as much after now, after
Speaker 1: the game, he was like, you know, basically, I'm not
Speaker 1: sad about this. You know what was the exact quote
Speaker 1: he had? We hold on. I want to I don't
Speaker 1: want to get it wrong because it was a very
Speaker 1: interesting quote. Ant said, I have it right here. Dusty
Speaker 1: put it in our First Thing's First rundown because it's
Speaker 1: one of the things we're talking about today. A Aunt
Speaker 1: was asked, you know about how much this hurts, and
Speaker 1: he said, quote, I don't know why people would think
Speaker 1: it would hurt. It's exciting for me. I'm twenty three.
Speaker 1: I get to do it a whole bunch of times.
Speaker 1: I'm hurt, more so for Mike, Mike Conley, who was
Speaker 1: sitting next to him. I came up short for Mike.
Speaker 1: We tried last year, we couldn't get it. We tried
Speaker 1: again this year. We'll try again next year. But hurt
Speaker 1: is a terrible word to use. I'm good. And then
Speaker 1: he went on to say I'm gonna work my butt
Speaker 1: off this summer. No one's gonna work harder than me
Speaker 1: this summer, I'll tell you that much. So that might
Speaker 1: be a little like athletic bravado or you know that
Speaker 1: Aunt does it, or maybe that really is how he feels.
Speaker 1: But the reality is at twenty three, compared to where
Speaker 1: his peers were at twenty three, he's ahead of schedule.
Speaker 1: The only person, like one of his peers who had
Speaker 1: made a conference finals at that age was Luca and
Speaker 1: so I So, I don't think Timberwolves fans should be
Speaker 1: like crestfallen, like oh, we missed our shot. I do
Speaker 1: think that their best path forward is for Ant to
Speaker 1: take a leap similar to how Shay did from all
Speaker 1: NBA caliber to MVP favorite. And that's a heart that's
Speaker 1: a very very very hard leap to take. But that's
Speaker 1: the best path forward for them. NBA Finals almost here,
Speaker 1: and every play could be the be the one that
Speaker 1: changes everything. It's the NBA Playoffs or heroes rise, Legacies
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Speaker 1: I picked the Knicks to win this series. I have
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Speaker 1: I want to throw this at you before we get
Speaker 1: to Nick. Spacers demand DraftKings obviously as a look aheadline.
Speaker 1: If it is Pacers thunder, what do you think that
Speaker 1: line is?
Speaker 2: Just on the series to win the series?
Speaker 3: No game one, game one Pacers all right?
Speaker 2: Okay? See minus eight Oh.
Speaker 1: I was going to say I thought you were going
Speaker 1: to be far off on this because you were going
Speaker 1: to find it disrespectful. You're closer than I thought. OKAYC
Speaker 1: minus nine. Yeah, I mean still a little like that's
Speaker 1: a that's a big spread for Game one of the finals.
Speaker 1: But it speaks the fact that DraftKings been pretty confident
Speaker 1: all year long to the thunder of the best team,
Speaker 1: and they are they are thus far being proven correct.
Speaker 1: All right, let's go to Knicks Pacers.
Speaker 3: So you said on Tuesday you expected New York to
Speaker 3: come in and tie up the series. That obviously didn't happen.
Speaker 3: The Pacers are up.
Speaker 2: Three to one. Now did the Knicks below their best opportunity?
Speaker 1: You think, well, when you look at see this is
Speaker 1: where because I the question is for the Knicks to
Speaker 1: win the championship, is this the best chance they're going
Speaker 1: to have had? And my answer to that question is probably,
Speaker 1: like I don't look at this year as like, oh,
Speaker 1: it's wide open, because sitting on the other side of
Speaker 1: the bracket is a sixty eight win team that is
Speaker 1: run rough shot you know, in round one, in round
Speaker 1: three and you know Joker gave it, you know, gave
Speaker 1: them their best shot in round two. But they really
Speaker 1: do look like a team that is the best team
Speaker 1: in the league. So I don't look at it as
Speaker 1: if you were in the Western Conference in the twenty
Speaker 1: the year the what is it the year the Nuggets
Speaker 1: won and sitting coming out of the East, and by
Speaker 1: the way, I think the Nuggets would have beaten the Celtics.
Speaker 1: But this isn't Daniel, I'm not. This is really actually
Speaker 1: about Lakers wistfulness. The sitting on the other side of
Speaker 1: the bracket is the eight seed Miami Heat. If you're
Speaker 1: in the West that you're like, damn, that would have
Speaker 1: been a nice year to make the NBA finals, And
Speaker 1: so I don't look at it that way. What I
Speaker 1: do look at it for the Knicks is doing what
Speaker 1: they did against Boston and then not being able to
Speaker 1: close the deal and at least get to the finals
Speaker 1: is going to feel very painful, but it is noteworthy
Speaker 1: that that is how this has gone the last two years.
Speaker 1: Looks like we're gonna have three years in a row
Speaker 1: where a team executes a pretty shocking upset and I
Speaker 1: don't even know if it's shocking, but executes an upset
Speaker 1: of the defending champ in round two and then gets
Speaker 1: pretty easily dispatched in round three. The Lakers beat the
Speaker 1: Warriors in round two when the Warriors were the defending champs,
Speaker 1: and then got swept in the conference finals. The Timberwolves
Speaker 1: beat the Nuggets in round two and then lost in
Speaker 1: five in the conference finals. The Knicks beat the Celtics
Speaker 1: in round two and are now down three to one
Speaker 1: in the Conference finals. Particularly when it comes to the
Speaker 1: Knicks beating the Celtics and the Timberlves beating the nugg
Speaker 1: it's you do feel like was there a bit of
Speaker 1: an exhale after winning those series and then the other
Speaker 1: team jumped out on you. The question for the Knicks
Speaker 1: is are they going to simply run this team back
Speaker 1: next year? We can discuss that more if and when
Speaker 1: their season ends. Well I shouldn't say if. At some
Speaker 1: point this season's gonna end, but when their season ends,
Speaker 1: the question for me is can they win tonight? And man,
Speaker 1: you gotta you gotta think the Knicks at some point
Speaker 1: are gonna just play a really good start to finish game.
Speaker 1: They haven't done that yet this series. Even the game
Speaker 1: they won, they were not really good start to finish.
Speaker 1: You also have to think or at least. I would
Speaker 1: think that the Knicks that MSG tonight gives and they
Speaker 1: haven't been that good at home in these playoffs, gives
Speaker 1: them a little boost of energy and with the fans
Speaker 1: having been so good for them all year, that they
Speaker 1: don't want to go out like that. And so some
Speaker 1: of the stuff to me is fixable in that even
Speaker 1: after makes you have to get back on defense because
Speaker 1: the Pacers are going to try to run, and you
Speaker 1: have to take a better do a better job taking
Speaker 1: care of the ball, and it is it's really if
Speaker 1: you're a Knicks fan, it's been really frustrating to see
Speaker 1: how many opportunities they've had in various moments in the series.
Speaker 1: There are there's and they sorry I sound a little
Speaker 1: distracted though, because we're having slight internet issues, just so
Speaker 1: our producers know, there's the there's nobody on the Wi
Speaker 1: Fi or anything. There's nothing that there's there's no way
Speaker 1: to fix what we're dealing with right now. The the
Speaker 1: Knicks have had I know everyone's going to point to
Speaker 1: Game one, and Game one was a historic meltdown. Like
Speaker 1: we talked about it in the moment, We've never seen
Speaker 1: anything like it. But even outside of Game one, we're
Speaker 1: yet to see them put four good quarters together. Game two,
Speaker 1: they just they did a good job shutting down Halliburton.
Speaker 1: They couldn't shut down Siakam at all, and they let
Speaker 1: the Pacers jump out after it's close. Throughout, the Knicks
Speaker 1: lose concentration or let go of the rope, or the
Speaker 1: Pacers are just better for the opening few minutes of
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter, and that's how they win Game three,
Speaker 1: which which the Knicks do win. The Pacers are dominating
Speaker 1: that game. The Knicks don't play well for the first
Speaker 1: three quarters, Kat goes crazy and the Knicks steal it.
Speaker 1: Game four, the Pacers are in control really the entirety
Speaker 1: of that game. And now that the Knicks. For a
Speaker 1: moment it was like, oh, man, are the Knicks going
Speaker 1: to do to the Pacers in Game four what the
Speaker 1: Pacers did the Knicks in Game one? But there's a
Speaker 1: reason that had never been done in the NBA history.
Speaker 1: It's very very hard to do. The Knicker yet to
Speaker 1: put four great quarters together.
Speaker 3: Now and dealing with the Celtics team where the Pacers
Speaker 3: are good late in these games.
Speaker 2: It's like that's a good point there.
Speaker 3: Late at the end, the Pacers can take care of business. No,
Speaker 3: that's a good difference. They'll shut themselves out of it.
Speaker 3: The Pacers will make the right play.
Speaker 1: And the other thing is the Pacers are just going
Speaker 1: so fast, so consistently that late in these games they're
Speaker 1: used to it and the Knicks aren't. And so I listen,
Speaker 1: I'll go down with the ship. I'll pick the Knicks tonight.
Speaker 1: And then Game six becomes absolute theater to see if
Speaker 1: the Knicks can force a Game seven. But the it
Speaker 1: is when you actually demands. As odd as this sounds,
Speaker 1: when you actually go back and look at the Knicks
Speaker 1: this postseason, there aren't many instances of them playing four
Speaker 1: awesome quarters, like the close out game against the Celtics
Speaker 1: is the one. But they listen. They blew out the
Speaker 1: Pistons in Game one, but they were down going into
Speaker 1: the fourth quarter of that game. Their other victories in
Speaker 1: that series were by two points, one point, three points
Speaker 1: celt There are three wins against the Celtics before Game six.
Speaker 1: They were down fifteen in all of them, twenty and
Speaker 1: two of them. And so like it has been, we
Speaker 1: are seeing little instances of why the Nicks struggled against
Speaker 1: the best teams in basketball all year long, and to
Speaker 1: your point, they're now playing a team that can match
Speaker 1: their clutch late and it hasn't turned out well for him.
Speaker 1: I still don't think the Pacers are, you know, gentlemen
Speaker 1: sweep better than the Knicks, which is why I think
Speaker 1: the Knicks and win tonight. But they certainly have looked
Speaker 1: like overall clearly the better team. All right, let's go
Speaker 1: to Halliburton.
Speaker 3: Uh yeah, so Halliburton just went god mode the other day.
Speaker 3: So he had thirty two, fifteen and twelve with zero turnovers.
Speaker 3: Do you believe that he could be the best player
Speaker 3: on a championship team.
Speaker 1: In today's NBA?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, I don't don't take this the wrong way.
Speaker 1: I don't think this version of Halliburton is substantially worse
Speaker 1: than last year's version of Tatum. Like you know what,
Speaker 1: I like, we just saw like the that and see
Speaker 1: it right like they're yeah, it was very different. I mean,
Speaker 1: they're dlastically different players. But I'm just saying, like when
Speaker 1: we're tearing out the players, I don't think this version
Speaker 1: of Haliburton is drastically different than the twenty twenty two
Speaker 1: version of Steph. I mean they are very different players.
Speaker 1: But it's just as far as like caliber, caliber of player. Now, listen,
Speaker 1: peak Steph is a totally different animal entirely. But that's
Speaker 1: the version of Steph that won the championship in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two is lesser than the you know, peak Steph Curry.
Speaker 1: And so in today's NBA we have we have to
Speaker 1: adjust for what it takes to win a championship in
Speaker 1: the you know what's somebody on Twitter maybe smartly coined
Speaker 1: as you know, it's not the Big Three era, it's
Speaker 1: not the Superstar era. It's the weak link era, meaning
Speaker 1: like do you have can you consistently put out five
Speaker 1: quality players, four of which can defend? And that's the
Speaker 1: other problem for the Knicks is, and this was the
Speaker 1: worry when you traded for Towns is what if your
Speaker 1: two best players are both real minus defenders. And Halliburton's
Speaker 1: game on what night was that Tuesday night? That was
Speaker 1: an all time game. A thirty point triple double with
Speaker 1: zero turnovers in the playoffs has had been done one
Speaker 1: time ever and it was by Baron Davis, oddly enough,
Speaker 1: and it was to put a stranglehold on a series
Speaker 1: to go to the finals. And so it's a hurky
Speaker 1: jerky game. It's a weird game. The set shot is odd,
Speaker 1: but he's awesome and it's you know, it's why he
Speaker 1: got a spot in Club Superstar was not that game,
Speaker 1: but his awesomeness. And we can get to that now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so you unveiled your latest rendition of Club Superstar
Speaker 3: and he took Donovan. You put hot Donovan, Mitchell in
Speaker 3: and Hallean for the first time.
Speaker 2: You took Embiid in ad out. Could you explain to us.
Speaker 3: Your process and how the club management goes about getting
Speaker 3: these guys in and out.
Speaker 1: Yeah so all right, so tell me. So, here are
Speaker 1: the twelve guys in and we can put the graphic
Speaker 1: up Halliburton, Brunson, Joker, Shay Luca, Jannis braun Steph, Donovan,
Speaker 1: Durant and Tatum. It's a twelve person max, So if
Speaker 1: you want to put someone in, you got to kick
Speaker 1: someone out. We took out Embiid because of all the
Speaker 1: injury stuff and ad for similar reasons. You might be like, then,
Speaker 1: how does Tatum stay in? Tatum has been so consistent
Speaker 1: and so durable that you know, one season long injury
Speaker 1: does not get him kicked out like his spot is secure. Uh,
Speaker 1: you seem to have I mean the heart. His call
Speaker 1: was Donovan.
Speaker 2: Donovan Mitchell surprised me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so who would you? Would you have any of
Speaker 1: those guys in over him?
Speaker 2: That's what I was I was trying to think of.
Speaker 3: I mean, yeah, Anthony Davis is the because.
Speaker 1: In line was Wimby, Cade Shingoon and Devin Booker. Wimby
Speaker 1: is the obvious next guy in. But he's got to
Speaker 1: actually do it, you know what I mean, He's got
Speaker 1: to actually earn his way in, and so I I
Speaker 1: you know, we did.
Speaker 2: A good job with and all that. Yeah, I understand
Speaker 2: how Donovan Mitchell slips in there.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, can you hear me? Sol dem On say yes,
Speaker 1: I've got you. Okay, good, Sorry about that. My I
Speaker 1: knocked my AirPod out of my ear. I mean, AD
Speaker 1: is a tough one. And the argument against Donovan is,
Speaker 1: you know, eight years in the league, in the playoffs
Speaker 1: every year, never in round three. It's hard, though, to
Speaker 1: use that as an argument to put a DN over him,
Speaker 1: because do I think Donovan could have you know, made
Speaker 1: a conference finals or an NBA finals alongside Lebron like AD?
Speaker 1: Did I do like whenn ad was the guy he
Speaker 1: never got passed round one. It's a tricky spot. Donovan
Speaker 1: is for a guy who hasn't been deep in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: he's not a playoff dropper, Like you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: He puts up huge numbers, and Brew raised the question,
Speaker 1: do we not have twelve superstars?
Speaker 2: Right? That's the other thing I was kind of but
Speaker 2: go ahead.
Speaker 3: It's just like no good team. Was just looking around
Speaker 3: at the teams. I'm like, who can get in over
Speaker 3: this guy? But it's like it's a little right.
Speaker 1: It's a weird because the league is so deep on
Speaker 1: really good players, but maybe a little thin on great
Speaker 1: great players. Because the other argument was should Kevin Durant
Speaker 1: be out? And my answer to that question is he's
Speaker 1: such an iconic player who still plays at a high
Speaker 1: enough level. I don't feel comfort He's still twenty seven
Speaker 1: a game, you know what, I don't feel comfortable yeah,
Speaker 1: taking him out? So to me, those are the twelve
Speaker 1: What are your follow ups here?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I care to explain how Joki took Lebron's throne.
Speaker 1: That was an editorial choice made by the artist Jack Perkins,
Speaker 1: who does a great job. You can followhim on Twitter
Speaker 1: at Pure Hoop and listen, I give him the lists,
Speaker 1: he makes the picture. I gotta tell you, I wasn't
Speaker 1: thrilled with seeing Lebron out of the throne, but I
Speaker 1: guess jokers earned it for now. But yeah, that was
Speaker 1: not I didn't trust me. I didn't I didn't demand that.
Speaker 1: Now I did hear that. I'm okay with Lebron being
Speaker 1: moved out of the throne because he's no longer in
Speaker 1: the argument for the best player in the league. Mike
Speaker 1: pal Simmons yesterday did a top fifteen player pyramid and
Speaker 1: didn't have Lebron on that. Now that's an outrage, Like
Speaker 1: that's just objectively that. Here's the thing about the Lebron
Speaker 1: rankings that is so irritating to me. At times, people
Speaker 1: keep prematurely downgrading him because of his age when we
Speaker 1: just saw it. He just finished sixth in MVP voting, sixth.
Speaker 1: He just finished firmly second team All NBA. So why,
Speaker 1: all of of a sudden, is he not one of
Speaker 1: the fifteen best players in the league. Like you, the
Speaker 1: Lebron is anywhere you you could fairly argue for Lebron
Speaker 1: to be as high as fifth and as low as
Speaker 1: tenth best player in the league. But that's it. And
Speaker 1: the what is frustrating to me about Bill's ranking specifically,
Speaker 1: is the he still has Steph Curry as like the
Speaker 1: seventh best guy. There's no there's there's no way to
Speaker 1: look at this NBA season and say Steph was better
Speaker 1: than Lebron, not by stats, not by team record, not
Speaker 1: by individual accolades, not by any of it. Now you
Speaker 1: can say his team made it one round further in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, so be it that that part is true,
Speaker 1: But that's it was that, but that team also was
Speaker 1: and be like, well, how much of Lebron's team success
Speaker 1: this year was because they traded for Luca. STEP's team
Speaker 1: was sub five hundred when they traded for Jimmy Like,
Speaker 1: that's a weird one for me. But set that aside.
Speaker 1: Lebron obviously still superstar. Steph's obviously still a superstar. And
Speaker 1: that's you know, that's where we're at all, right.
Speaker 3: Next, do you think that Halliburton still would you have
Speaker 3: still given him a spot if he would have lost
Speaker 3: in round one?
Speaker 1: No? Now, I submitted this list before round one was over.
Speaker 1: I submitted this list. I took a screenshot of it
Speaker 1: yesterday to send to Gianna of when I submitted this list.
Speaker 1: I submitted this list May seventh. So let's see where
Speaker 1: we were in the playoffs on May seventh. I've got
Speaker 1: to I can pull that up quickly. So when I
Speaker 1: submitted this list, we were the games that had just
Speaker 1: been played. Is the Pacers had just taken a two
Speaker 1: to zero lead on the Caves. Oh, so that's interesting.
Speaker 1: I didn't even realize that I submitted this list the
Speaker 1: morning after Halliburton executed that insane comeback on the Calves.
Speaker 1: And so maybe I, you know, maybe I was kind
Speaker 1: of in the afterglow of that. But he's proven me
Speaker 1: right by his performances throughout. And the other thing is
Speaker 1: so no losing in round one. No, but had they
Speaker 1: ended up losing in round two, I would have still
Speaker 1: been comfortable with it. All right, go some more follow
Speaker 1: ups here before.
Speaker 3: So Wimby, it sounded like you had said, you said,
Speaker 3: Wimby's got to do. It isn't intentional him being walking
Speaker 3: inside of the club, Well.
Speaker 1: It seems inevitable, but he's not in yet. It's the
Speaker 1: second straight year he's been trying to walk in. He's
Speaker 1: not in yet. And I also the other thing I
Speaker 1: could have done, Demons is put Paolo in line. The
Speaker 1: Pallo to me is he's on the same par on
Speaker 1: par with Shingoon, So I could have put Polo in line.
Speaker 1: We just didn't. All right, let's let's do the NFL
Speaker 1: stuff another day. I'm just not into it today. I'm
Speaker 1: still in basketball mode. And I'll be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I'm not just in basketball mode. I know, I talked
Speaker 1: about it on the Pot on Tuesday. I think I'm
Speaker 1: also really, really in poker mode. I am so incredibly
Speaker 1: excited for the World Series of Poker. I am the
Speaker 1: studying in the way I study, which is not like
Speaker 1: study solvers and stuff, because I'm playing mixed games, but
Speaker 1: by watching old tournaments and listening to the commentary and
Speaker 1: seeing how guys play different spots. I am we have
Speaker 1: a you know, I've got my room set, I've got
Speaker 1: the app verified. I am. I'm so excited about go
Speaker 1: about going to this tournament or going to these tournaments.
Speaker 1: And so I my work brain right now is occupied
Speaker 1: by the NBA. My personal brain is oper is occupied
Speaker 1: by poker stuff and uh the like the NFL OTAs
Speaker 1: we'll talk about it someone on the TV show. But
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not dialed in on that right now.
Speaker 1: If I'm being totally honest, reminder of the audience, like
Speaker 1: rate subscribe review to the pod. Let's have some of
Speaker 1: the audience members who are watching us live. They have
Speaker 1: some questions. Let's go ahead and get to them.
Speaker 2: Uh, Producers.
Speaker 3: After Demandsay said he thought James Dolan was Brew, Bruce
Speaker 3: said on TV that he thought Bryce Young was Demonse.
Speaker 2: Is there beef Brewing?
Speaker 1: No, there's no beef. How did that happen? Do you
Speaker 1: remember this?
Speaker 3: I think it was you guys were in New Orleans.
Speaker 3: You guys were in New Orleans and you were talking
Speaker 3: to Brew. No, Brew was talking to Bryce Young. Oh
Speaker 3: he walked by him or something like that.
Speaker 1: That's exactly right.
Speaker 2: He came up to you and it was like, I
Speaker 2: didn't know Demond was here.
Speaker 3: It's is crazy because I've seen him in person before,
Speaker 3: and like Bryce Young.
Speaker 2: Is I feel like he's like six.
Speaker 1: Six, maybe seven or eight inches shorter than you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the no, that's all true. If you guys do have
Speaker 1: a similar look.
Speaker 3: On the virus style and the hair, facial air, skin tone.
Speaker 1: But yeah, but that part is true. All right, let's
Speaker 1: keep going.
Speaker 3: Kyle says, Hey, Nick, is the reason you don't call
Speaker 3: out Brunson's defense more aggressively because you're a donegice guy.
Speaker 1: No, So I I think that at times we can
Speaker 1: be misleading, we can be disingenuous. I guess on how
Speaker 1: much we what's the right way to put it? Team
Speaker 1: defense is incredibly important to winning a championship, however, and
Speaker 1: individual players overall impact on your team for stars is
Speaker 1: so much more heavily influenced by how impactful they are offensively.
Speaker 1: It is why there is the All NBA Team and
Speaker 1: then separately the All Defense team, because there are guys
Speaker 1: who might be first team All Defense who don't have
Speaker 1: a shot at being on the All NBA team. And
Speaker 1: so I it's not Jalen Brunson is obviously a minus defender.
Speaker 1: It is in my opinion, and that does put a
Speaker 1: ceiling on where he can be in the overall hierarchy
Speaker 1: of the league. But it is the team and the
Speaker 1: coaches job to figure out how to make do with
Speaker 1: the fact that our superstar is a minus defender. And
Speaker 1: it's just I don't think it's for lack of effort,
Speaker 1: for Jalen Brunson. He's just not big enough and not
Speaker 1: the athlete that he would need to be the All right,
Speaker 1: let's go on to the next one.
Speaker 3: Platonic Zombie. F YI, you forgot the Suns with the
Speaker 3: trio discussion.
Speaker 1: I assume that's a joke. I mean the Sons are
Speaker 1: a duo as well with Katie and Booker. I assume
Speaker 1: that's a joke.
Speaker 3: Joshua has what a title for SGA make him the
Speaker 3: best thunder of all time?
Speaker 1: Kdi's got an MVP there and a finals appearance. Russ
Speaker 1: has an MVP there and a finals appearance as the
Speaker 1: co star. If Shay wins an MVP there and wins
Speaker 1: the championship.
Speaker 2: And finally VP, probably.
Speaker 1: The I yeah, and finals MVP. I guess I don't
Speaker 1: know that I'll feel that way, but I but that's he.
Speaker 1: I don't know that I would look at him that way,
Speaker 1: but he probably would be. All right, let's go to Eric.
Speaker 3: Eric says Demond's ay, I saw you hooping on Tuesday.
Speaker 3: Look like you at least didn't get to deput up
Speaker 3: happy you got the win. What's your record? Have you
Speaker 3: played and are you ready for playoffs?
Speaker 1: So what's this about.
Speaker 3: So I'm in a rec league or a Culver City
Speaker 3: league with a couple.
Speaker 2: Of my guys at work.
Speaker 3: Oh really, actually yeah, I actually got a I did
Speaker 3: it the last game.
Speaker 1: You got ejected from a direct league game directly game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they didn't even give you a warning though, Like
Speaker 2: it was what you know, the guy.
Speaker 3: The guy was like tugging on my arm, just doing
Speaker 3: a bunch of unnecessary Draymond green Es things, and I
Speaker 3: pushed and I was like, hey man, you know, watch out,
Speaker 3: and the ref was like you got to go sit down,
Speaker 3: and he's like, actually, you can't be in the gym.
Speaker 2: I was like, all right, team, and I think we're
Speaker 2: like two and seven right now I've played.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're terrible. This is only my I.
Speaker 3: Played in one game before that, and then this is
Speaker 3: my second fold.
Speaker 2: I played in three. The second game I got.
Speaker 3: Ejected like two minutes into it, and then this last
Speaker 3: game I played the entire time. They've been doing a
Speaker 3: lot of losing without me, but the schedule just conflicts
Speaker 3: a lot with like a lot done back there.
Speaker 1: Team the bus first, was I supposed to lie about
Speaker 1: our record doing a lot of losing without me? No,
Speaker 1: I didn't mean it like that.
Speaker 2: I was just saying, like these games, I didn't see
Speaker 2: those losses. I can't. I don't know what happened there.
Speaker 3: But uh, but yeah, you ejected once or twice one time, and.
Speaker 1: Okay, so when you described misunderstood, the.
Speaker 2: Games have been super late.
Speaker 3: They conflict and it's just like I can't like some
Speaker 3: of these I can't make Yeah, but uh but yeah,
Speaker 3: so every every team goes to the playoffs and we'll
Speaker 3: be there and next time.
Speaker 2: Okay, coming down.
Speaker 1: So you have a chance to to go on a
Speaker 1: Cinderella run, but no, we're are you how what? What
Speaker 1: percent are you that you were pre achilles.
Speaker 3: As far as like leaping ability and all that, I'm
Speaker 3: probably at like eighty five ninety, Like it's not all
Speaker 3: the way there, but I'd say a lot of it's
Speaker 3: still there.
Speaker 1: Though a lot of it's still there. And uh, and
Speaker 1: it didn't affect your shot or anything else.
Speaker 3: No, the only thing that's really affected my I feel
Speaker 3: like it's my broken my permanent broken finger. But but no,
Speaker 3: it did take a little bit to get my legs
Speaker 3: up underneath me though, like I felt like.
Speaker 1: Like I'm glad you're playing. Are you playing at I
Speaker 1: still say where.
Speaker 3: I still play at the gym, and I just play
Speaker 3: at this rec League center every Monday or Tuesday whenever.
Speaker 1: But the gym that you have a membership for, I
Speaker 1: still go there. That's great, Okay, great, I didn't know
Speaker 1: you were playing, Eric, you go. Yeah, so you did
Speaker 1: see de monster.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was definitely my Hopefully we see you guys
Speaker 2: in the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and hopefully you don't get it. Can't maximum one
Speaker 1: ejection a season.
Speaker 2: You know, it was so embarrassing like that, will not
Speaker 2: have it again. I was really embarrassed.
Speaker 1: Well, especially when you said it happened two minutes in.
Speaker 3: That was important. Crazy party. I had six points, Like
Speaker 3: it was in like thirty seconds. I scored the six points.
Speaker 3: Another guy, get me out of the game. I was
Speaker 3: already annoyed about some stuff when I walked in the gym.
Speaker 3: But you gotta you know basketball is an escape. Leave
Speaker 3: that stuff out the way.
Speaker 1: I love to hear it. All right, Good job Blue Duck,
Speaker 1: good job Volume, Thank you to DraftKings. We will the
Speaker 1: reminder and for the Blue Duck folks and Volume folks
Speaker 1: all get the details on how we're gonna do this
Speaker 1: next Thursday. Shows from Vegas Tuesday, regularly scheduled show, maybe
Speaker 1: a quick show over the weekend to react. If this
Speaker 1: series wraps up on Saturday night, maybe even one tomorrow.
Speaker 1: We'll see how the playoffs go, but we'll see all
Speaker 1: Then heading to work to go on TV. See you
Speaker 1: guys on First Things First in a few hours. Thank you. Also,
Speaker 1: Richard Jefferson, What's right?