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Speaker 1: On this episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly. Barely a year

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Speaker 1: removed from a car crash that could have killed him,

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Speaker 1: Tiger Wood surprised a lot of people by playing in

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Speaker 1: the Masters. SI senior writer Stephanie Apstein joins us for

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Speaker 1: her report on how Woods looked at Augusta. But first,

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Speaker 1: the NBA playoffs are here, and we have our Eastern

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Speaker 1: and Western Conference playoff previews with SI senior writers Chris

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Speaker 1: Mannix and Howard Beck. It's Wednesday, April. I'm your host,

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Speaker 1: John Gonzaltz from Sports Illustrated and I Heart Radio. This

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Speaker 1: is Sports Illustrated Weekly. You can read them on SI

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Speaker 1: dot com and listen to them on the Crossover podcast s.

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Speaker 1: I Senior NBA writers Chris Mannix and Howard Beck are here. Guys,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Sports Illustrated Weekly. Thank you, good to be back,

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Speaker 1: Good to be on. Yeah, thanks for doing this. I'm

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Speaker 1: excited about this. The playoffs are upon us and we're

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Speaker 1: gonna get into all the conference matchups. Are gonna start

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Speaker 1: in the East and get to the West. Before we

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Speaker 1: do that, I want to pull back just a little

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Speaker 1: bit because the oddsmakers have the sons is the favorites

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Speaker 1: to win it all, followed by the Bucks, but not

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Speaker 1: by a lot, right. I mean, there's eight teams that

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Speaker 1: are twelve to one are better to win it all?

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Speaker 1: And you guys tell me, but I love this. It

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Speaker 1: feels like one of the most wide open playoffs we've

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Speaker 1: had in a long time. Yeah, Adam Silver's dream in

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Speaker 1: his early years as commissioner, and maybe this was David

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Speaker 1: Stern's dream to a degree, but he has craved NFL

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Speaker 1: style parody. We all understand that stars and big markets

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Speaker 1: often drive ratings in the finals, but how many conference

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Speaker 1: playoffs have we seen over the last decade where the

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Speaker 1: outcome was all but predetermined whether it was a lebron

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Speaker 1: team getting to the finals, a Golden States super team

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Speaker 1: winning a championship that might lead to end of the

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Speaker 1: road high ratings, but the conference playoffs were at times

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Speaker 1: unwatchable and almost meaningless because you knew who was going

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Speaker 1: to get there. Last year, we had an excellent postseason.

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Speaker 1: This year, I think we're headed towards an excellent and

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Speaker 1: unpredictable postseason where as many as eight teams from either

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Speaker 1: conference could find their way into a finals matchup. So

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Speaker 1: you know, this is what the NBA wants. Even if

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Speaker 1: you see a ratings dip in a conference finals, the

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Speaker 1: NBA Finals at the NBS okay with it? If what

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Speaker 1: they get our competitive matchups throughout these playoffs, I agree

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Speaker 1: with most of that. I mean, listen, just for the record, though,

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Speaker 1: David Stern did what say that his ideal finals matchup

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Speaker 1: was the Lakers versus the Lakers. This was back in

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Speaker 1: the Shack and Kobe era, when that would have just

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Speaker 1: been the highest rating in the history of ratings. The

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Speaker 1: NBA is star driven. We all know that. The NBA

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Speaker 1: is often superteam and dynasty driven. We all know that.

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Speaker 1: And we know that having Lebron in the finals, or

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Speaker 1: having the Steph Curry Warriors in the finals, or even better,

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Speaker 1: Lebron versus the Steph Curry Warriors in the finals, that's

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Speaker 1: great for ratings. However, I think in Adam Silver's view

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Speaker 1: to Chris's point, overall, you have the potential erosion if

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Speaker 1: you have that gone too long in the smaller markets,

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Speaker 1: you have an erosion of belief, you have an erosion

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Speaker 1: of any appearance of competitive balance. So the fact that

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Speaker 1: we had Sons versus Bucks last season, and especially because

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Speaker 1: the Sons were the team we could not see coming

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Speaker 1: the Bucks coming from one of the smaller markets. That's

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Speaker 1: good for the league too, because as much as this

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Speaker 1: is a star driven league and often a big market

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Speaker 1: driven league, what the NBA really needs for good health

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Speaker 1: across the league is for all thirty franchises to have

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Speaker 1: some sense of belief, and for their fans to have

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Speaker 1: some sense of belief, and for just us to not

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Speaker 1: see every year just an exodus of superstars from smaller

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Speaker 1: markets to larger markets, as we've so often scene. And

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Speaker 1: this postseason again provides I think some of that hope,

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Speaker 1: because yes, the Suns are favored in the West and

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Speaker 1: had the best regular season by far, but the Grizzlies

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Speaker 1: have a shot. The Warriors, if they get healthy, have

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Speaker 1: a shot. I don't think anybody else does. I think

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Speaker 1: it's kind of a three team race, and in the

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Speaker 1: East could be the Bucks, could be the Celtics, could

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Speaker 1: be the Sixers. Maybe it's the heat. It is kind

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Speaker 1: of wide open, and I think the suspense is good

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Speaker 1: for all of us. Yeah, I've loved it. And you

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Speaker 1: mentioned the Eastern Conference where, honestly, if you put five

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Speaker 1: teams in a hat and picked one out at random

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Speaker 1: and said, Hey, that team won the Eastern Conference. I

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Speaker 1: would believe you because the entire season was such a

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Speaker 1: tight race, and I thought it was one of the

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Speaker 1: most enjoyable Eastern Conference runs in a while. So we'll

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Speaker 1: start there. You mentioned the Heat, Howard almost kind of

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Speaker 1: in passing there. They got the number one seed, six

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Speaker 1: and four over their last ten, they win the conference

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Speaker 1: by two games. How do we feel about the Heat

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Speaker 1: is the top seed? Listen, I feel like obviously they

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Speaker 1: earned that spot. You know, my bad for to them

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Speaker 1: last in that group. It's not that they're an afterthought,

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Speaker 1: I want to be clear. It's just that the Heat

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Speaker 1: are not the typical favorite in a conference that we're

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Speaker 1: used to seeing. We are used to seeing in the

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Speaker 1: m b A. It's a star driven league where she

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Speaker 1: used to seeing super teams. Were used to seeing teams

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Speaker 1: where you have one transcendent guy, sometimes a couple of

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Speaker 1: transcendent guys, and then a bunch of great players around them.

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Speaker 1: What the Heat have is just a bunch of great players.

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Speaker 1: Jimmy Butler is great, but Jimmy Butler is not in

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Speaker 1: any in any m VP conversations, and probably what won't

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Speaker 1: ever be. That's fine, He's a phenomenal player. I would

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Speaker 1: love to have him, but he's not your typical franchise star.

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Speaker 1: Bamada Bio is an incredible defensive presence and an evolving

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Speaker 1: offensive player as well an All Star. He'll he'd be

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Speaker 1: All NBA if he hadn't missed a bunch of games.

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Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry has won a championship and been a multiple

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Speaker 1: time All Star. But this is the prototypical ensemble cast.

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Speaker 1: And the reason that they become sort of an afterthought

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Speaker 1: perhaps is they don't have Janice but the Bucks do.

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Speaker 1: They don't have a Jason Tatum but the Celtics do.

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Speaker 1: They don't have an M beatn Simmons or embat and Simmon.

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Speaker 1: I'm never going to get out of that and beating

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Speaker 1: hard and I will be saying em beating Simmons for

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Speaker 1: the rest of time. They do not have an M

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Speaker 1: beating hardened as the Sixers do. They don't even have

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Speaker 1: a Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as the seventh or

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Speaker 1: eight seeded Nets might if they make it out of

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Speaker 1: the plane. So that's why the Heat feel like a

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Speaker 1: little bit of an unconventional contender here. Can they make

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Speaker 1: it sure but if the role kind of axiom applies

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Speaker 1: that the team with the best player generally wins a series,

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Speaker 1: then the heat may have some troubles. We go to

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Speaker 1: the number two seed in the Eastern Conference to Boston Celtics,

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Speaker 1: who were super slow to start the season, and then

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Speaker 1: January hit and they flipped the switch and they really

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Speaker 1: came on. So what changed for them? And then how

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Speaker 1: do you evaluate them? And at this point in the season,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's not a question, well it is sort

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Speaker 1: of what's changed. But I mean, I'm pretty close to

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Speaker 1: the Celtics. I live in Boston. I do a lot

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Speaker 1: of work for the TV network out there, so I've

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Speaker 1: watched almost all of their games and the first two

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Speaker 1: months of the season. Emai Udoka spent those months basically

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Speaker 1: trying to break the Celtics of all their bad habits,

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Speaker 1: everything they picked up over the last couple of years,

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Speaker 1: the atrophy that they've they had over the last year

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Speaker 1: or so. Email was trying to break the involved and

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Speaker 1: he did it by publicly scolding them, like he went

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Speaker 1: after those players after virtually every game. And I remember

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Speaker 1: watching that team play at Minnesota in late December and

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Speaker 1: they didn't play the Timberwolves. They played like the G

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Speaker 1: League version of the Timberwolves because there was no Towns,

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Speaker 1: no Russell, no Anthony Edwards. And they lost that game.

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Speaker 1: And I'm watching that game boing. This team is done

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Speaker 1: their toast. But in early January, everything that email U

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Speaker 1: Doka was trying to instill in them seemed to click.

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Speaker 1: The switching defense, which they didn't play under Brad Stevens

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Speaker 1: started to work. Jalen Brown, who had missed time with

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Speaker 1: injuries and with COVID, got back on the floor and

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Speaker 1: got healthy. Marcus Smart continued to grow into his role

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Speaker 1: as a primary playmaker. I've been wrong about a lot

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Speaker 1: of things covered the NBA for the last couple of decades,

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Speaker 1: but I don't think I've ever been more wrong in

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Speaker 1: my take that Marcus Smart could not be a lead

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Speaker 1: playmaker on a high level team. He proved me dead

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Speaker 1: wrong all season long. He was a much better playmaking

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Speaker 1: lead guard that I thought he was going to be.

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Speaker 1: So you combine that with a roster that with Rob

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Speaker 1: Williams could switch everything like. Their defensive versatility was better

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Speaker 1: than any team in the league. Put all those things together,

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Speaker 1: and from January on they have been one of the

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Speaker 1: best teams in basketball for those reasons. All right, let's

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Speaker 1: move on to the two series that we know for

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Speaker 1: sure are going to happen. We've got the three seed

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Speaker 1: in the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks against the sixth seed,

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Speaker 1: the Chicago Bulls. Started out great for the Bulls at

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Speaker 1: the beginning of the season, then injuries followed them a

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Speaker 1: little bit. They fell off. Bulls fans recently booed them

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Speaker 1: and zac Lavine and said that they were right to

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Speaker 1: boo them. It's a little tough here, Bucks that are

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Speaker 1: the heavy favorites. I kind of want to reverse engineer

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Speaker 1: this one. What has to happen for the Bulls to advance?

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Speaker 1: I just don't see it. I don't um Let's go

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Speaker 1: back to best player in the series is gonna win

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Speaker 1: it most of the time. And that's the honest plus.

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Speaker 1: You know, look, Chris Middleton and Drew Holiday perennially underrated

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Speaker 1: second and third stars here, great defenders, capable playmakers themselves.

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Speaker 1: And this is a Bucks team that once they got

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Speaker 1: Brook Lopez back a few weeks ago, their whole the

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Speaker 1: group that won the championship is there again. And there's

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Speaker 1: no reason to believe the Bucks despite their record. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we can't get caught up in a defending champion having

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Speaker 1: their record received a little bit the next year. That's common.

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Speaker 1: The Bucks are, I believe, still the class of the

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Speaker 1: Eastern Conference until we're proven otherwise. So Bucks versus Bulls,

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Speaker 1: especially this version of the Bulls, who have regressed quite

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Speaker 1: a bit over the course of the season. And listen,

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Speaker 1: like they lost Caruso, they lost Lonzo Ball. They got

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Speaker 1: Caruso back, they're not getting Ball back. Demarta Rosen and

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Speaker 1: Zach Lavine are a really nice one to punch. Throw

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Speaker 1: Vouch in there, and you've got a nice balanced offense

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Speaker 1: to an extent, but none of it that can compare

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Speaker 1: with the high percentage, high efficiency scoring of Janisanda Da Coumbo.

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Speaker 1: So I just don't see that the Bulls have much

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Speaker 1: of a shot here. I don't think this is gonna

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Speaker 1: be a very long series. Yeah, I don't. Uh, I

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Speaker 1: don't see it either. I mean, weirdly, a Bulls win

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Speaker 1: might constitute the biggest upset in the first round in

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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, just based on the team that they're playing.

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Speaker 1: And look, you can make a weird case that a

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Speaker 1: healthy Calves team could give the Heat some trouble, you

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Speaker 1: can certainly make the case that Durant and Kyrie can

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Speaker 1: win a first round series against Boston. I don't see

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Speaker 1: the case for Chicago at this point. I mean, what

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Speaker 1: made them really good to start the season was that

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Speaker 1: their defense was so surprisingly good. They finished the season

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Speaker 1: ranked in defense efficiency. Now that has a lot to

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Speaker 1: do with the injuries, specifically Alonzo Ball. You lose your

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Speaker 1: point of attack defender, your point guard defender, that's gonna

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Speaker 1: cost you something big. So without Alonzo, the team they

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Speaker 1: have right now going up against Milwaukee, which just been

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Speaker 1: there's been aiding for this and they wanted this matchup.

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Speaker 1: They threw away the last game of the season because

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Speaker 1: they wanted this matchup. I don't see the path to

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Speaker 1: victory for Chicago with the group they currently have. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I think that we're pretty much all on the box

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Speaker 1: and it would be a surprise if it didn't shake

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Speaker 1: out that way. We get to the last series in

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Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference, which is the complete opposite coin flip

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Speaker 1: for me for seed Philadelphia seventy six years versus the

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Speaker 1: five seed the Toronto Raptors. I still have PTSD from

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Speaker 1: the last time they met in the playoffs. Outside of

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Speaker 1: Fred Vanfleet and Pascal, they don't have a lot of

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Speaker 1: star power. They're just a professional team. Nick Nurse is

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Speaker 1: obviously a great coach. I don't know what to make

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Speaker 1: of this series. You guys tell me, I'd like to

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Speaker 1: know what I make of it, But fingers crossed on that.

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Speaker 1: Can I just go first year Howard, because like, I

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Speaker 1: don't mean to get too hyperbolic, but like, this is

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Speaker 1: one of the most important playoffs series in the history

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Speaker 1: of the seventies Sixers franchise. Like, they went all in

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Speaker 1: on James Harden. They gave up their best available pe

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Speaker 1: is on the roster, or at least a few of them,

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Speaker 1: with Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond, who I think

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Speaker 1: they'd want back right now, and they gave up draft

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Speaker 1: consideration to get him. If they go out in the

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Speaker 1: first round. And suddenly the Sixers and their ownership group

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Speaker 1: are presented with the possibility having to pay James Harden

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Speaker 1: more than a quarter of a billion dollars over the

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Speaker 1: next five years. That's not a position that I would

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Speaker 1: want to be in. This has to go well for Philadelphia.

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Speaker 1: They have to get out of this first round and

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Speaker 1: at least get into a second round matchup with Miami

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Speaker 1: to validate what this roster looked like. Said, I don't

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Speaker 1: it's gonna be a challenge. Like we know now that

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Speaker 1: Matisset table is not going to be eligible for the

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Speaker 1: two games in Toronto. That takes away the Sixers best

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Speaker 1: perimeter defender from that team against the team with a

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Speaker 1: lot of good perimeter players from Pascal Siakam to Fred

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Speaker 1: VanVleet to others on that rock. To throw Scotty Barnes

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Speaker 1: into that mix on good perimeter Allan as well, James Harden,

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Speaker 1: Let's call it mixed results over the first month or

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Speaker 1: so with this team, this is gonna be a tough series.

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Speaker 1: You're going up against the team that will switch everything

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Speaker 1: on the perimeter, has great versatility defensively, No, they don't

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Speaker 1: have somebody that can stand in front of Embiad and

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Speaker 1: control him in the post. But if Embiat goes for

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Speaker 1: like forty five, where's the other production coming from the Raptors?

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Speaker 1: Might be okay with that Embiad go off as long

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Speaker 1: as nobody else does in that series. This is a

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Speaker 1: fascinating matchup. And again Howard, like one of the most

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Speaker 1: important ones I can remember in the history of the

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Speaker 1: franchise because and beats in his prime, and you need

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Speaker 1: to prove that James Harden is worth the investment to

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Speaker 1: play alongside him for the next five years. Yeah, And

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Speaker 1: and Harden, as we know, doesn't exactly have the most

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Speaker 1: stellar postseason record overall, there's a lot on him too,

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Speaker 1: like his his reputation as Mbiad's running mate. There's a

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Speaker 1: lot writing on that as well. And there's a lot

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Speaker 1: writing on this for Darryl Morey, who have course made

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Speaker 1: the trade for hard and reuniting with him after all

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Speaker 1: their years together in Houston. I agree a lot at

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Speaker 1: stake there, not necessarily hyperbolic, Chris. And on top of that,

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Speaker 1: by the way, the Raptors can win this. Yeah, the

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Speaker 1: Raptors absolutely can win this. The Raptors have been one

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Speaker 1: of the best teams in the NBA over the last

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Speaker 1: couple of months, and certainly since the All Star Break,

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Speaker 1: and just you know, take a look since the All

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Speaker 1: Star break, the Raptors have been a top five defense.

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Speaker 1: Since the All Star break, the Sixers twelve best. Now

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Speaker 1: you you go to the offensive rating and it reverses

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Speaker 1: rather quickly. The Sixers have much more potency in the

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Speaker 1: offense because of Joel Embiid. The Raptors don't have an

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Speaker 1: answer there. But the Raptors do have this ultraversial team

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Speaker 1: of all these long, rangy guys who can all defend

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Speaker 1: every position, who can handle pass score. They're weirdly constructed,

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Speaker 1: and weird is is a compliment in this case. The

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Speaker 1: Raptors are really unique. They're tough for teams to deal

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Speaker 1: with because they don't attack from any single point and

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Speaker 1: you throw in as Chris mentioned, the table ineligibility for

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Speaker 1: all the games in Toronto, Games three and four, in

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Speaker 1: a potential Game six, they don't have a lot of

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Speaker 1: depth to begin with the Sixers. That could hurt him.

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Speaker 1: So I, like, I don't even think it would necessarily

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Speaker 1: be a massive upset if the Raptors won. It would

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Speaker 1: be massive consequences potentially, but it's there's only three wins

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Speaker 1: difference between them, and much less than that if you

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Speaker 1: consider just the last couple of months of the season

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Speaker 1: when the Raptors finally got going. I don't want to

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Speaker 1: labor this point hour, but like, do like, what do

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Speaker 1: you do if you're Philadelphia and you lose that series,

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Speaker 1: like what do you do? And I'm asking, I'm actually

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Speaker 1: asking this, like, if you're the Sixers, what do you

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Speaker 1: do if you lose that series? The easy answer there

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Speaker 1: is you jettison the coach, right, I mean it seems

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Speaker 1: to me. And even though I wouldn't put it on Doc,

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Speaker 1: I mean, Doc has got the roster that he has,

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Speaker 1: but I would anticipate that if they don't get out

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Speaker 1: of the first round, that Doc has almost certainly gone.

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Speaker 1: I want to compliment the two of you, though, because

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Speaker 1: it never reigns here in Los Angeles, So I appreciate

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Speaker 1: you guys hovering a storm cloud over my Philadelphia fandom.

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Speaker 1: That's been really enjoyable. Thank you m um, real quick. Actually,

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Speaker 1: now that we mentioned the coaching component, yeah, you're nay

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Speaker 1: on both of these coaches being with their current teams

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Speaker 1: next season. Nick Nurse is absolutely still with the Raptors

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Speaker 1: next season. I know there's the rumors of the Lakers

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Speaker 1: wanting to pursue him, but look, he's under contract, and

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Speaker 1: the Raptors would have to want to let Nick Nurse

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Speaker 1: walk away. I don't know why they would. And we

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Speaker 1: have a precedent in this league, probably the most recent

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Speaker 1: one unless I'm forgetting one would be Doc Rivers leaving

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Speaker 1: the Celtics for the Clippers several years ago, and the

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Speaker 1: Clippers had to send a first round pick as compensation

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Speaker 1: for the Celtics letting him out of his contract. Last

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Speaker 1: I checked, the Lakers did not exactly have a lot

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Speaker 1: of draft picks to spare, and they need them for

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Speaker 1: other purposes, namely to fix their profoundly left up roster.

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Speaker 1: So you're not sending out a pick to go get

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Speaker 1: Nick Nurse if you need it to either offload Westbrook

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Speaker 1: or to just go get other veteran help around Lebron.

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Speaker 1: So Nick Nurse will be with the Raptors Doc. I

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Speaker 1: don't know. You could make the case that even if

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Speaker 1: they flame out in the first round, there would be

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Speaker 1: reasons to keep him. But he did take that job before,

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Speaker 1: by a matter of days or weeks before Darryl Moorey

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Speaker 1: got there, So the potential for Darryl Moorey to make

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Speaker 1: his own higher, of course, is always there. I just

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Speaker 1: don't know why. Unless Nick Nurse really hates Toronto and

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Speaker 1: like wants to follow the Kawhi Leonard path to Los

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Speaker 1: Angeles and live there, why would you go You are

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Speaker 1: part of the most functional organization one of anyway. In basketball,

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Speaker 1: You've got Massio, Jerry and Bobby Webster who no talents,

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Speaker 1: like who are going to get you a new young

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Speaker 1: guy to develop and play every single year. You've got

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Speaker 1: a young roster right now that, with maybe one more piece,

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Speaker 1: could be a championship contender. Why would you go to

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Speaker 1: step into a situation in Los Angeles where possibly you

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Speaker 1: have Lebron for one more year and you have a

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Speaker 1: front office that is run by somebody I'm not exactly

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Speaker 1: sure who at this point, whether it's Rob Polenka, Kurt Rambis,

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Speaker 1: Jennie Buss, Linda Rambis, Magic Johnson, input from the ESPN

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Speaker 1: desk out in Connecticut. Like, I don't it just doesn't

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Speaker 1: track from me why Nick Nurse would want that job.

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Speaker 1: So I say Nick Nurse stays and for all the

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Speaker 1: reasons our articulated doc is probably if they lose that series,

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Speaker 1: I could see him going. I do think there's I

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Speaker 1: do think we should question why, like front offices who

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Speaker 1: put coaches in these positions get to fire these coaches

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Speaker 1: like they're the problem. Like we just saw that happen

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Speaker 1: with the Lakers and Frank Vogel. Frank Vogels not even

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Speaker 1: in the top ten of reasons the Lakers were this

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Speaker 1: bad last season. And Doc, you can certainly question certain

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Speaker 1: things that he does rotationally, but Doc didn't make the

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Speaker 1: James Harden trade. You know, he had a ross that

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Speaker 1: was playing well and now here they are in a

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Speaker 1: little bit of flux going into the playoffs. That's not

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Speaker 1: necessarily on him. All right. So that was the Eastern Conference.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna go over to the Western Conference after a

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Speaker 1: break and discuss those playoff teams and will also discuss

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Speaker 1: the Lakers, who are once again out of the postseason

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Speaker 1: and are a total dumpster fire. All right, So we

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Speaker 1: did the Eastern Conference. Now we'll move over to the

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Speaker 1: Western Conference. And Howard, as you mentioned, the Phoenix Suns

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Speaker 1: were this delightful surprise last season. This isn't totally different

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Speaker 1: there than number one seed for a reason, because they

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Speaker 1: were the best and most consistent team in the league.

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Speaker 1: But then you have the number two seed, the Memphis Grizzlies,

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Speaker 1: and they've been so much fun to watch. Jah has

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Speaker 1: been a revelation. Jaren Jackson staying healthy has been huge

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Speaker 1: for them. But in the same way that Phoenix surprised

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Speaker 1: us last year. I don't think anybody had the Memphis

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Speaker 1: Grizzlies making this kind of leap this season. No nobody did.

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Speaker 1: I don't think the Grizzlies had the Grizzlies making this

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Speaker 1: kind of leap this season, and it's been spectacular. It

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Speaker 1: is very much analogous to the Sun's last year, except

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Speaker 1: the Suns that had that group together for several years

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Speaker 1: and just added Chris Paul, who you know, Look, if

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Speaker 1: you needed a lynchmen to bring it all together, that's

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Speaker 1: the guy you go and get and lo and behold.

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Speaker 1: It pulled everything together. It made everybody better than the

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Speaker 1: some of their parts. The Grizzlies didn't add anybody. They

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Speaker 1: just let their young guys keep evolving. John Morant took

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Speaker 1: a massive leap from star to superstar, and the Grizzlies

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Speaker 1: made one of those rare leaps by a young team.

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Speaker 1: No outside help, didn't go get some veteran, didn't go

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Speaker 1: get the the point guard and brings all together, didn't

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Speaker 1: go get Lebron, but they just made this organic leap themselves.

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Speaker 1: And to top it all off, John Moran of course

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Speaker 1: missed like twenty four games and they went twenty and

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Speaker 1: four without him, which just showed how hard this team

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Speaker 1: plays and how much great chemistry they have even when

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Speaker 1: their star is unavailable to them. Their defense is legit,

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Speaker 1: their offense is explosive in transition. But as stan Van

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Speaker 1: Gunny told me on the Crossover Pod recently, he's not

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Speaker 1: that confident in them in the postseason because in the

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Speaker 1: half court they just don't have enough shooting and John

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Speaker 1: Morant is not a shooter himself. Defenses are gonna key in,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna grind the game down and it's gonna be

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Speaker 1: a little bit tougher. But we have reached that point

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Speaker 1: where it's kind of underestimate the Grizzes at your own peril. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: they've been so fun to watch the season, as have

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Speaker 1: the Phoenix Suns. Chris. I mean, they're the favorites twin

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Speaker 1: not just the conference but also the championship, and I

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Speaker 1: think it's almost curious like that we've taken them, or

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Speaker 1: at least I'll speak for myself that I've almost taken

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Speaker 1: them from granted that you know, they go out there

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Speaker 1: and they're winning most nights, and they've got a guy

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Speaker 1: Devin Booker who averaged twenty seven points, five rebounds and

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Speaker 1: nearly five assists on the best team in the league,

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Speaker 1: and the last twelve guys who did that on the

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Speaker 1: number one team all won the m v P. And

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Speaker 1: it's just kind of like, oh, yeah, he's just good. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he's really skated under the radar. And I hate to

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Speaker 1: use that phrase because most guys don't even Like, every

428
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:29,080
Speaker 1: time I hear Nicola Yoki under the radar, I want

429
00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:31,199
Speaker 1: to vomit the guy one m VP last year, it's like,

430
00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,240
Speaker 1: shout out to your guys. Dan Van Gundy Howard, who

431
00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:37,160
Speaker 1: loves to kind of refer to that, sometimes loves Nicola Yoki,

432
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,360
Speaker 1: but obviously does. I mean they're a complete team. They

433
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:43,359
Speaker 1: are like, they don't have any real weaknesses. I mean,

434
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:47,240
Speaker 1: they've got an elite perimeter defender in Bridges, They've got

435
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:51,840
Speaker 1: an elite backstop defensive center in DeAndre Ayton. Booker is great.

436
00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,240
Speaker 1: Chris Paul is great. I guess if you're wondering anything

437
00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,879
Speaker 1: about Phoenix is does Chris Paul breakdown in the postseason,

438
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,119
Speaker 1: which has happened time after time in Chris's career, including

439
00:22:01,200 --> 00:22:03,199
Speaker 1: last year when he had to miss a chunk of

440
00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:06,080
Speaker 1: time with that hand injury, So like that's the only

441
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:08,240
Speaker 1: thing I'd be worried about right now. If I'm Phoenix,

442
00:22:08,400 --> 00:22:11,920
Speaker 1: I look at them as being a prohibitive favorite against everybody,

443
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 1: including Golden State, including Memphis. You just don't see any

444
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,640
Speaker 1: weaknesses on that team. And you throw in the fact

445
00:22:16,640 --> 00:22:18,680
Speaker 1: that this will not be there. They're kind of maiden

446
00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:21,040
Speaker 1: voyage in the playoffs and they're coming off a finals

447
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 1: experience that taught them, I'm sure, lessons on getting there

448
00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:26,480
Speaker 1: that they're hungry to get back to that position win

449
00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:28,679
Speaker 1: a championship. You know, I think Vegas has got it

450
00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 1: right to make them the favorite, not just to win

451
00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:32,960
Speaker 1: the conference, to win the whole thing. Let's run through

452
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 1: the last two playoff series in the West real quick.

453
00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:38,320
Speaker 1: You've got the Golden State Warriors as a three seed

454
00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,399
Speaker 1: and the Nuggets as the six. The big three for

455
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:44,000
Speaker 1: the Golden State Warriors, Steph Clay and Draymond have played

456
00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:48,359
Speaker 1: only eleven minutes together. And then, as you mentioned, Nikola Yokich,

457
00:22:48,400 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: who nobody talks about. So what do we think for

458
00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:55,000
Speaker 1: this series. I think we're gonna be talking a lot

459
00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:59,240
Speaker 1: about Nikola yoki because he's pretty much the entire Nuggets

460
00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,080
Speaker 1: offense at this stage. It's not that the Nuggets couldn't

461
00:23:03,080 --> 00:23:06,679
Speaker 1: win this series. They certainly can. I don't expect them to.

462
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:11,040
Speaker 1: But there's like fifteen different asterisks to place in this

463
00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:14,720
Speaker 1: whole conversation, starting with where is Steph Curry? Is Steph

464
00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:17,000
Speaker 1: gonna play? At what point does he rejoin them? How

465
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,920
Speaker 1: close to is he? And I'm more conserved with steps

466
00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:22,960
Speaker 1: health than I am with whether or not he and

467
00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:25,320
Speaker 1: Draymond and Clay have spent more than eleven minutes together

468
00:23:25,359 --> 00:23:28,000
Speaker 1: this season. They obviously had many many years together and

469
00:23:28,040 --> 00:23:31,520
Speaker 1: a few championships together. They're fine. It's not like with

470
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,880
Speaker 1: the nets We're throwing Ben Simmons in at the last minute,

471
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:35,680
Speaker 1: is like, whoa wait, we don't know about the chemistry.

472
00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 1: The Warriors chemistry will be fine. Health is the concern

473
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:41,960
Speaker 1: there though. And as great as Jordan Pool has been

474
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 1: this season breakthrough year for him, was the substitute Clay

475
00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:48,679
Speaker 1: for a while. Now he's the substitute Steph for the

476
00:23:48,720 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 1: time being. I like what the Warriors have. It like

477
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:53,920
Speaker 1: their depth. I like their championship no how, because they've

478
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:55,679
Speaker 1: done it before, and I would give them all of

479
00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,240
Speaker 1: that over the Nuggets. But if Steph doesn't play, it's

480
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 1: a much steep task obviously. Nevertheless, I expect the Warriors

481
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:05,600
Speaker 1: to win this one. I think that Yokich's admirable how

482
00:24:05,600 --> 00:24:08,800
Speaker 1: far he's carried this team without Jamal Murray, without Michael

483
00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 1: Porter Jr. But especially in the playoffs and against a

484
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:14,040
Speaker 1: really good defensive team in the Warriors. I think there's

485
00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:15,560
Speaker 1: just a limit to how much you can do on

486
00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:19,240
Speaker 1: your own. Yeah, I agree the Steph variable matters. He

487
00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:22,600
Speaker 1: hasn't played since middle of March, and we've seen with

488
00:24:22,880 --> 00:24:25,560
Speaker 1: foot injuries, namely with a guy like Anthony Davis, like

489
00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:29,119
Speaker 1: you can be healthy enough to play but not be

490
00:24:29,240 --> 00:24:32,600
Speaker 1: a when you get out there, and you know that

491
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,120
Speaker 1: the Nuggets are gonna make him move a lot in

492
00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,280
Speaker 1: that series, and they'll test that foot early and often.

493
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:40,520
Speaker 1: So I'm very just see like what Steph looks like

494
00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,560
Speaker 1: in Game one of that series. They don't have the

495
00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:46,439
Speaker 1: bodies to throw at Yokich. He averaged sixteen against them

496
00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:49,199
Speaker 1: in the regular season four games against Golden State, but

497
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:52,560
Speaker 1: nobody has the bodies for Yokich. I think even with

498
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 1: Yogis going off with a healthy step they win. If

499
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: he's not healthy as anybody's series right now. The Nuggets

500
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,679
Speaker 1: can absolutely beat Golden State. Last one in the Western

501
00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 1: Conference is also anybody's series. That's also the four five

502
00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,440
Speaker 1: matchup Mavericks and the Jazz. I don't know what to

503
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,640
Speaker 1: make of this one. I mean, as we're recording this,

504
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:12,560
Speaker 1: the Dallas Mavericks are still waiting on an m r

505
00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 1: I on a strain calf for Luca. What was initially

506
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,720
Speaker 1: reported that there was optimism that he had avoided serious injury,

507
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,320
Speaker 1: and then the Jazz have just had a really weird year.

508
00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:24,720
Speaker 1: I wonder what happens if they don't get out of

509
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:26,399
Speaker 1: the first round. Did they end up blowing it up?

510
00:25:26,480 --> 00:25:27,960
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of chatter about that. What do

511
00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:31,679
Speaker 1: you guys make of this matchup? Well, I would say, first,

512
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: I'm glad that the Mavericks not playing the Clippers for

513
00:25:34,359 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 1: the third year in a row because I'd like to

514
00:25:35,800 --> 00:25:38,960
Speaker 1: see Luca have a chance to advance. We having to

515
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,240
Speaker 1: go up against you know, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard

516
00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,200
Speaker 1: and players of that ilk. Look, the Mavericks have kind

517
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,200
Speaker 1: of mirrored what the Celtics did in the second half

518
00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,920
Speaker 1: of the season in a lot of the same ways,

519
00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:50,480
Speaker 1: like they were. They looked somewhat dysfunctional in the first

520
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:53,040
Speaker 1: couple of months, then early January they picked it up.

521
00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,000
Speaker 1: Luca kind of mirrors Jayson Tatum with the rise He's

522
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 1: had to re emerge as kind of a top five MVP.

523
00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:01,879
Speaker 1: Guide their defense, the way they play and aggressively trap.

524
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 1: That's gonna be interesting to see how the Jazz with

525
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,639
Speaker 1: Donovan Mitchell approach that. And there's just look, Howard knows this.

526
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 1: I've been a huge fan of the Jazz for years.

527
00:26:09,560 --> 00:26:11,640
Speaker 1: I've always kind of given them maybe more credit than

528
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:14,639
Speaker 1: they deserved. I believed in them more than others. But

529
00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:17,120
Speaker 1: it's just a weird vibe around that team right now

530
00:26:17,160 --> 00:26:19,520
Speaker 1: where we're just kind of questioning, you know, do they

531
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,920
Speaker 1: like each other? Is Quinn Snyder gonna be there next year?

532
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 1: To your point, John is like, this is gonna be

533
00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 1: a team that gets shredded him in. Anytime you're a

534
00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,159
Speaker 1: team run by Danny Ainge, there's always the possibility that

535
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,080
Speaker 1: he kind of Gordon geckos you and just rips you

536
00:26:32,119 --> 00:26:35,159
Speaker 1: down from spare parts and rebuilds it from scratch. So

537
00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 1: there's just a vibe around this team. And look, if

538
00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:40,159
Speaker 1: you're playing Dallas. They're probably gonna try to get you

539
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,320
Speaker 1: to play small and that might make Gobert, who's had

540
00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:47,159
Speaker 1: some struggles against smaller lineups, more ineffective in a series

541
00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 1: like that. So you know, I like Dallas in that

542
00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:55,119
Speaker 1: series for that reason. It's Dallas for certain, if Luca

543
00:26:55,359 --> 00:26:58,200
Speaker 1: is at all close to healthy, if that caps stream

544
00:26:58,240 --> 00:26:59,920
Speaker 1: proved serious, and again, as we record this, we don't

545
00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,120
Speaker 1: know what the status of Lucas Calf is. But if

546
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:07,240
Speaker 1: he's missing a game or two, that changes everything. I mean,

547
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:08,960
Speaker 1: I don't have a lot of faith in the Jazz

548
00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,240
Speaker 1: as a whole. I don't see the Utah Jazz making

549
00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:14,840
Speaker 1: a deep playoff run, period, and I don't see them

550
00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,520
Speaker 1: beating the Mavericks in this series. If Luca is healthy

551
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 1: but their chemistry is weird, I do think they're on

552
00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:23,120
Speaker 1: the clock. I do think that an early flame out,

553
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:25,000
Speaker 1: whether in the first round or even in the second round,

554
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,080
Speaker 1: means major changes are coming. Whether that's trading Gobert, whether

555
00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: it's trading Mitchell, whether it's replacing Quinn Snyder, whatever it

556
00:27:32,560 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 1: may be. Chris put it, well, Danny Ange is there

557
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 1: for a reason, and Danny Ange doesn't mess around. Then

558
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:39,560
Speaker 1: he doesn't he's not gonna wait. And besides that, even

559
00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,919
Speaker 1: if they had never hired Age, it just felt like

560
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:43,960
Speaker 1: this thing had run its course. And even people in

561
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,520
Speaker 1: Utah kind of feel that, Yeah, there's so much uncertainty

562
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,960
Speaker 1: for their team and for these playoffs. I'm really excited

563
00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:51,920
Speaker 1: about the playoffs. We've run through all the teams that

564
00:27:51,960 --> 00:27:55,639
Speaker 1: actually made the playoffs. We talked briefly about one specific

565
00:27:55,680 --> 00:27:57,720
Speaker 1: team that did not. But I want to wrap this

566
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 1: up with you guys on the Lakers and what a

567
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:03,639
Speaker 1: mess that situation is. They fired Frank Vogel. I guess

568
00:28:03,640 --> 00:28:06,119
Speaker 1: they ended up telling him. Initially they had neglected to

569
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:07,720
Speaker 1: tell him because somebody had said, hey, what do you

570
00:28:07,760 --> 00:28:09,320
Speaker 1: think about this? And they said, they haven't told me.

571
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:11,800
Speaker 1: But they have since then and now A bunch of

572
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:14,320
Speaker 1: names have been bandied about and mentioned, Nick Nurse, possibly

573
00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: Quinn Snyder or Doc Rivers. But can a coach fixed

574
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 1: this team because they have limited cap space, no first rounder,

575
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,399
Speaker 1: until very few assets. It feels like they got bigger

576
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:26,520
Speaker 1: problems than that. Look I don't know if we can

577
00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:29,239
Speaker 1: swear on this podcast, but Dick moved Dick moved by

578
00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:33,119
Speaker 1: the Lakers to allow that report to get out or

579
00:28:33,200 --> 00:28:36,800
Speaker 1: to leak it out that Vogel was done before he

580
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:41,000
Speaker 1: even sits down after the last game of the season, Like,

581
00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:43,880
Speaker 1: what was that kind of a fitting end to a

582
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:46,920
Speaker 1: dysfunctional year? Though for the Lakers, I I don't I

583
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:49,680
Speaker 1: don't know what the answer is with this team. There's

584
00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 1: no market for Russell Westbrook. Nobody's trading for him unless

585
00:28:53,480 --> 00:28:58,320
Speaker 1: you attach that first round draft pick, and the Lakers

586
00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:01,200
Speaker 1: have made it clear, at least before the trade deadline,

587
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,120
Speaker 1: that they weren't interested in doing that. Lebron is gonna

588
00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:08,760
Speaker 1: be aged thirty eight next season, and he's showing signs

589
00:29:08,760 --> 00:29:12,720
Speaker 1: of where he's still elites the average thirty that's unbelievable,

590
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,800
Speaker 1: but he's showing signs of wear and tear at these

591
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,480
Speaker 1: ankle sprains and the Nixon bumps he's had over the years.

592
00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: That could be something that continues and at some point

593
00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: you're gonna see him wear down. Anthony Davis still as

594
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 1: yet to prove he can stay healthy for a full season.

595
00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 1: I mean, really, that bubble run was the best we

596
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:30,960
Speaker 1: saw out of Anthony Davis. I don't know what the

597
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 1: solution is here. I don't like they're gonna have to

598
00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:36,200
Speaker 1: replace half their roster because of so many minimum contracts

599
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: that they have. They've got to get more athletic, they've

600
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,960
Speaker 1: got to get younger, they've got to get longer. But

601
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,960
Speaker 1: those guys don't grow on trees, like you can't just

602
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 1: sign them off the street. So I think with a

603
00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,280
Speaker 1: healthy Lebron, healthy a d they'll be better. But just

604
00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:50,000
Speaker 1: by the way before you go hard, like, I am

605
00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: so over this narrative that if the Lakers were healthy

606
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,080
Speaker 1: they'd be better, Like Anthony Davis keeps pushing this like

607
00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:57,880
Speaker 1: they were eleven and ten with their top three guys.

608
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,880
Speaker 1: And I'm sorry, Kendrick Nunn is not Michael Jordan's Like

609
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: Kendrick Nunn coming back to play would not have been

610
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:06,440
Speaker 1: this bomb that would have healed the Lakers. I just

611
00:30:06,520 --> 00:30:08,760
Speaker 1: don't see it happening. So they're gonna have to do

612
00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:12,520
Speaker 1: something something I don't expect, something really creative that's going

613
00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,760
Speaker 1: to get this team back on a championship path. Chris,

614
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought that up because Anthony Davis just

615
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:22,800
Speaker 1: said that he and Lebron are enough to win. Howard

616
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 1: are they? They are if you have the right supporting cast.

617
00:30:26,120 --> 00:30:27,400
Speaker 1: We saw it a couple of years ago they won

618
00:30:27,440 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: a championship, and then the Lakers dismantled it, and then

619
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,160
Speaker 1: they dismantled it again. The problem the Lakers have right

620
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: now is not the coach, whatever Frank Vogel's weaknesses may

621
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:43,000
Speaker 1: have been, perceived weaknesses, rotations, whatever. It's always about the

622
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: roster in the NBA, and especially when if it's the

623
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,000
Speaker 1: same coach who coached you to elite defense this first

624
00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 1: couple of years and suddenly that defense fell off because

625
00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 1: you don't have the same players, Maybe it's the players.

626
00:30:53,880 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 1: Um real quick, Here are the most minutes played by

627
00:30:57,080 --> 00:30:59,680
Speaker 1: Lakers this year. Russell Westbrook had the most minutes played.

628
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,600
Speaker 1: A fine, fading All star, but still he's Russell Westbrook.

629
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: Second most minutes played. Malik Monk might start for some teams,

630
00:31:06,920 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: probably a six man of most teams. Lebron James Is

631
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:11,200
Speaker 1: next tw minutes, missed a lot of games. Carmelo Anthony

632
00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:14,920
Speaker 1: fourth most minutes on the Lakers. Carmelo Anthony was a

633
00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:17,600
Speaker 1: short minutes role player for the last four or five years.

634
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,560
Speaker 1: Fifth most minutes on the team. Taylor Horton Tucker say

635
00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,320
Speaker 1: no more after him. Austin Reeves, Avery Bradley than Anthony Davis,

636
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,800
Speaker 1: Stanley Johnson picked up off the scrap heap midseason, Dwight Howard,

637
00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,680
Speaker 1: Wayne Allington, Kent pays More, Trevor Reason, DeAndre Jordan's Where

638
00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:32,960
Speaker 1: is the supporting cast here? Which of these guys was

639
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,360
Speaker 1: Frank Vogel supposed to have played more or more prominently? Like,

640
00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 1: there's just no good combinations to be found here. This

641
00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,720
Speaker 1: roster is a disaster. It's on the front office. The

642
00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:46,400
Speaker 1: Westbrook trade was a disaster. The guys that they gave

643
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:48,840
Speaker 1: up in that trade would have all been very useful

644
00:31:49,040 --> 00:31:53,480
Speaker 1: this season. Harold and Kuzma and Cantavious Colwell, Pope. They

645
00:31:53,480 --> 00:31:57,920
Speaker 1: have botched this so badly. And the way out starts

646
00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,520
Speaker 1: with finding a new home for Westbrook, which is a

647
00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: near impossibility with forty seven million left on his contract

648
00:32:03,920 --> 00:32:06,440
Speaker 1: for next season. And then even if you can find

649
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:08,480
Speaker 1: a new home for him, I don't know what you're

650
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,280
Speaker 1: you're bringing back. You still have to replace most of

651
00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:14,120
Speaker 1: the guys that I just named, because that is not

652
00:32:14,320 --> 00:32:17,080
Speaker 1: a functional roster. Very few of those guys would start

653
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 1: on any good teams in the NBA. That's a problem.

654
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:22,520
Speaker 1: And the older that that Lebron gets the more you

655
00:32:22,600 --> 00:32:25,440
Speaker 1: need a stronger supporting cast. The Lakers just don't have it.

656
00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 1: And last thought, I have not seen anything from this

657
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:29,080
Speaker 1: front office in the time that they've been there that

658
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 1: indicates to me they have the creativity necessary to pull

659
00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: off this impossible task that we just described. Howard, Hypothetically,

660
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,600
Speaker 1: if you could trade like Westbrook to Indiana and you

661
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:42,719
Speaker 1: get back like Buddy Heal, but you have to attach

662
00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:45,480
Speaker 1: a first round pick like that's like an Onion article

663
00:32:45,520 --> 00:32:49,160
Speaker 1: headline Lakers get healed but attached first round like It's

664
00:32:49,200 --> 00:32:51,680
Speaker 1: like if you've just done the heel deal last year,

665
00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: you might be in a different place right now. I

666
00:32:54,480 --> 00:32:57,080
Speaker 1: just like I said, I don't see the path to

667
00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,160
Speaker 1: get back to a championship level for the Lakers. A

668
00:33:00,240 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 1: D and Lebron by themselves is simply not enough. And

669
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:05,240
Speaker 1: by the way, I would love to see them pull

670
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:07,440
Speaker 1: it off, because I never want to see a player

671
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:11,120
Speaker 1: of Lebron James caliber saddled with a situation like this.

672
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,320
Speaker 1: He's too great, whether you love him, hate him, or otherwise.

673
00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:16,200
Speaker 1: You don't want to see an all time legend who,

674
00:33:16,280 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 1: by the way, still playing at an MVP level when

675
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:19,680
Speaker 1: he's playing I know it was only fifty six games.

676
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:21,360
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's in the m VP conversation all

677
00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,520
Speaker 1: that stuff, but the numbers he put up our m

678
00:33:23,560 --> 00:33:25,880
Speaker 1: v P type numbers. And if you can keep him

679
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:29,120
Speaker 1: healthy a little longer and get the right cast around him,

680
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,240
Speaker 1: Lebron James can still lead this team to the finals.

681
00:33:32,280 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: There's no question. But as it stands right now, I

682
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 1: just don't see how they get there, and I think

683
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:40,120
Speaker 1: they're gonna have to get This is how creative they

684
00:33:40,160 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 1: need to get along with the Westbrook discussion, at some point,

685
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 1: they have to actually at least have the conversation internally.

686
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:49,920
Speaker 1: What would happen if we trade Anthony Davis, What is

687
00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,080
Speaker 1: the market for him? What could we get back? Because

688
00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,960
Speaker 1: he is their only tradeable commodity who can bring back

689
00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,480
Speaker 1: positive value? Westbrook, Kenada, Kendrick Gunn, Kendrick Nunn I've heard

690
00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 1: can bring back and all start Kendrick Nunn, Taylor Horton

691
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,760
Speaker 1: Tucker in that future. First, Ay're gonna get them. Bradley Beal. Apparently,

692
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 1: it is extremely grim for the Lakers. They've missed the

693
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,080
Speaker 1: playoffs seven times in the last nine years. They're basically

694
00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:13,240
Speaker 1: turning into the Sacramento Kings of Southern California. You guys

695
00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:16,160
Speaker 1: though always excellent. Listen to them on the Crossover podcast.

696
00:34:16,280 --> 00:34:19,040
Speaker 1: Read them on SI dot com. Chris and Howard, unlike

697
00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:22,680
Speaker 1: the Lakers, you came through. Thanks for this, got it. Thanks.

698
00:34:22,360 --> 00:34:30,640
Speaker 1: Just after a break, we discussed Tiger's improbable return to

699
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:38,879
Speaker 1: the Masters. You've got a huge moment here, folks. We've

700
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,040
Speaker 1: got a long awaited return Tiger, which is first shot,

701
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,000
Speaker 1: which did a little bit. Here's what I worry about

702
00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,839
Speaker 1: with Tiger. That reconstructed right leg. That's his back leg

703
00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:53,520
Speaker 1: in which he gets always thrust. I live maybe five

704
00:34:53,600 --> 00:34:57,400
Speaker 1: minutes from where Tiger Woods crashed his car a little

705
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,640
Speaker 1: over a year ago, and every time I drive by it,

706
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 1: I think, how in God's name did he live through

707
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,520
Speaker 1: that crash. Tiger Woods remained in the hospital recovering from

708
00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:13,120
Speaker 1: surgery following yesterday's devastating crash in California. The golf grade,

709
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:16,759
Speaker 1: who only recently was getting over his fifth back operation,

710
00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 1: suffered significant injuries to his right leg. It's been fourteen

711
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 1: months since the wreck that could have claimed Tiger's life

712
00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 1: and badly damaged his leg. Remarkably, Woods recovered from his

713
00:35:28,120 --> 00:35:30,240
Speaker 1: injuries and he surprised a lot of people by playing

714
00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,160
Speaker 1: in the Masters. As I senior writer Stephanie Epstein was

715
00:35:33,160 --> 00:35:35,920
Speaker 1: an augusta all week reporting on woods and a comeback

716
00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:45,359
Speaker 1: that few of us anticipated happening so soon. Was there

717
00:35:45,360 --> 00:35:49,880
Speaker 1: any conversation this week from him about how far he's coming,

718
00:35:49,920 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 1: how lucky he is to not only be able to

719
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: play the Masters, but to be alive. Yeah, I think

720
00:35:55,760 --> 00:35:58,279
Speaker 1: he was asked that like the work five mass and

721
00:35:58,400 --> 00:35:59,759
Speaker 1: he kept saying, you know, the word that he would

722
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:01,839
Speaker 1: use is thankful that he's so thankful that he has

723
00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:03,799
Speaker 1: the opportunity to do this. He talked a little bit

724
00:36:03,840 --> 00:36:06,719
Speaker 1: about how he was in a bed for Facebook three

725
00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:10,880
Speaker 1: months after the accident. The question was just quality was

726
00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:12,960
Speaker 1: life at all, and then it was quality of life

727
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:16,840
Speaker 1: for a long time it was not playing competitive professional golf,

728
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:19,600
Speaker 1: and so it seems like it was only fairly recently

729
00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 1: that he realized. He said a month ago he wasn't

730
00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:23,759
Speaker 1: sure he was going to be able to do this.

731
00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,040
Speaker 1: For him, it was more about endurance and stamina, because

732
00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:29,839
Speaker 1: each individual shot he can hit, and he can go

733
00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,840
Speaker 1: for a casual walk, but to try to do five

734
00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:37,439
Speaker 1: hour rounds four times in a row is a lot

735
00:36:37,560 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 1: for a regular person, a regular forty six year old,

736
00:36:40,120 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 1: let alone one with a fuse back and a leg

737
00:36:43,239 --> 00:36:44,840
Speaker 1: that probably has so much medal in it that he

738
00:36:44,880 --> 00:36:48,400
Speaker 1: wouldn't be able to get their airport security. It's pretty astonsic. Actually,

739
00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:52,000
Speaker 1: when did you get the sense that he might actually

740
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:56,000
Speaker 1: pull this off? I think the week before people started

741
00:36:56,040 --> 00:36:58,920
Speaker 1: to wonder, because he went up there to play a

742
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,839
Speaker 1: practice round with his on Charlie and Justin Thomas, and

743
00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:04,640
Speaker 1: he sort of announced that he was doing that, I

744
00:37:04,680 --> 00:37:07,840
Speaker 1: think to save people the trouble of tracking his private plane,

745
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:11,400
Speaker 1: and so people wondered, like, is this is he actually

746
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:13,200
Speaker 1: going to be able to do this? And he wouldn't

747
00:37:13,239 --> 00:37:18,000
Speaker 1: say for sure until he gave a press conference on Tuesday,

748
00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 1: the tuesday before the event started, and said, as of

749
00:37:20,680 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: this moment, I am planning to play. He had played

750
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,239
Speaker 1: either one or two nine hole practice rounds by then

751
00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:28,480
Speaker 1: he was definitely getting out there. But August is very

752
00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:30,840
Speaker 1: hilly and it was prete cold week, so there was

753
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:33,000
Speaker 1: some question as to whether his body was gonna hold up.

754
00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:34,920
Speaker 1: Then he showed up on Thursday and he and he

755
00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,400
Speaker 1: did it. He played four days. You mentioned that he

756
00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:40,160
Speaker 1: played with his son Charlie at the p n C

757
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 1: and he had done some practice rounds. But as you outlined,

758
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,319
Speaker 1: you're so right, it's a long way from being able

759
00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,000
Speaker 1: to play four rounds over the course of four days.

760
00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:53,520
Speaker 1: And specifically that course is difficult to walk. I've been

761
00:37:53,520 --> 00:37:57,280
Speaker 1: to Augusta, you were there all week, explained to listeners

762
00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:02,600
Speaker 1: who haven't been there. How physically taxing that particular courses. Yeah,

763
00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,879
Speaker 1: it's one of the hardest courses to walk, I think.

764
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,200
Speaker 1: On tour, John Ron, who played with him on Sunday,

765
00:38:07,320 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 1: said that he thinks it's the hardest one of all

766
00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:13,160
Speaker 1: and that almost literally any other course will be easier

767
00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:16,759
Speaker 1: for him to walk Augusta. It looks hilly enough on TV,

768
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 1: but it is everyone who arrives there is like, wow,

769
00:38:20,080 --> 00:38:22,279
Speaker 1: I cannot believe how steep this is. It's the sort

770
00:38:22,320 --> 00:38:26,120
Speaker 1: of the first impression. It's it's a really tough It's

771
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:29,800
Speaker 1: a tough walk for reporters and fans, So imagine doing

772
00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:33,840
Speaker 1: that and also playing golf. It's pretty hard to do anyway.

773
00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,000
Speaker 1: And so Ron was saying, and Tiger was saying, and

774
00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,000
Speaker 1: a lot of people were saying that it should get

775
00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,400
Speaker 1: easier for him playing other courses. As he gains strength.

776
00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:43,799
Speaker 1: But I mean, it's never gonna be easy, but this

777
00:38:43,880 --> 00:38:46,680
Speaker 1: is probably the hardest one he will face. Plus the

778
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,640
Speaker 1: temperatures were low. That's hard for him. This is a

779
00:38:49,719 --> 00:38:51,600
Speaker 1: rough week. I think everything after this should be a

780
00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:54,440
Speaker 1: little bit easier. Yes, So did he talk much about

781
00:38:54,520 --> 00:38:57,600
Speaker 1: that in between various rounds. I mean, the what the weather,

782
00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:00,600
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, didn't exactly cooperate. He's got the back issues.

783
00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,359
Speaker 1: He's had five surgeries, so I'm imagining that the cold

784
00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:05,640
Speaker 1: weather probably didn't help him a ton on That was

785
00:39:05,640 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 1: the icing a lot in between. What was the recovery

786
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,040
Speaker 1: like for him, Yeah, he didn't want to get too specific,

787
00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:13,560
Speaker 1: but he said a lot of ice was in his future.

788
00:39:13,719 --> 00:39:16,240
Speaker 1: After each round. The goal is to get the swelling

789
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: up in his right leg down, and he wasn't specific

790
00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,440
Speaker 1: about what that entails, but it seems like there's a

791
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,120
Speaker 1: team of people working on him. He's in the truck

792
00:39:25,200 --> 00:39:27,239
Speaker 1: that they use as a training room for the tour.

793
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:31,160
Speaker 1: There's a lot of work to be done in between rounds.

794
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:33,120
Speaker 1: He said that he goes out and breaks his body

795
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 1: every day, and then he goes home every day and

796
00:39:34,680 --> 00:39:36,880
Speaker 1: his team fixes it for him. It really is a

797
00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 1: remarkable feat because I know that a lot of the

798
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,600
Speaker 1: time we don't think about golf being physical, but for

799
00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:45,160
Speaker 1: him in this instance, at that course, it very much is.

800
00:39:45,640 --> 00:39:47,719
Speaker 1: And he you know, he guts it out. It's a

801
00:39:47,719 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 1: mind over matter kind of thing. And we saw him

802
00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:52,160
Speaker 1: limping and it reminded me and a lot of people,

803
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,520
Speaker 1: I'm sure. But the two thousand eight U s Open

804
00:39:54,600 --> 00:39:56,800
Speaker 1: that where he he finished on a broken leg. But

805
00:39:56,840 --> 00:39:59,960
Speaker 1: this is fourteen years later, Stephanie, and five back sarge

806
00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:02,000
Speaker 1: weeks later and he's forty six, and plus you have

807
00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:04,840
Speaker 1: the car crash. I mean, this is a totally different

808
00:40:04,880 --> 00:40:08,480
Speaker 1: thing in terms of that mental component he needed to

809
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,919
Speaker 1: get out there and finish. Now. Yeah, I think that

810
00:40:12,719 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 1: people forget because the car crash was so dramatic that

811
00:40:16,160 --> 00:40:17,960
Speaker 1: it was already really hard for him to do this

812
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,720
Speaker 1: stuff because of the back. Yeah, because back is fused.

813
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:23,799
Speaker 1: He's had to change his his swing basically to accommodate

814
00:40:23,840 --> 00:40:25,680
Speaker 1: the fact that his back doesn't work the way it's

815
00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,760
Speaker 1: supposed to. You could sort of see cutting. He looked

816
00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:32,279
Speaker 1: like he was struggling the bending over. Even without the

817
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:34,920
Speaker 1: leg injury. This was a challenging thing for him to

818
00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:38,360
Speaker 1: do so add that to the fact that he can't

819
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:40,840
Speaker 1: really walk, it's pretty remarkable what he was able to

820
00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:42,920
Speaker 1: do this week and to be in it. I mean,

821
00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 1: I was at a bar on Saturday in Georgia. I

822
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:47,520
Speaker 1: was there for a wedding in Savannah, so not far

823
00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:49,719
Speaker 1: from Augusta, and I was having a conversation with a

824
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 1: friend of mine who is very into golf, and he said,

825
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 1: you know, Tiger's a couple of strokes back Tigers in it, right,

826
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:59,120
Speaker 1: And so look, we started to discuss what it's like

827
00:40:59,200 --> 00:41:01,960
Speaker 1: and how it feels different when Tiger is in a

828
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,080
Speaker 1: tournament and he's in the mix. What was the conversation

829
00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:07,960
Speaker 1: like among the reporters and people who were there watching

830
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:11,239
Speaker 1: the Masters. Did it feel like people believe that he

831
00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:14,480
Speaker 1: could maybe pull it off. Yeah, it's just it's like

832
00:41:14,520 --> 00:41:17,320
Speaker 1: two different sports. There's like golf and then there's Tiger Woods.

833
00:41:17,719 --> 00:41:20,120
Speaker 1: So at s I we had somebody on Tiger every

834
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,040
Speaker 1: single day. We had somebody writing basically the leader of

835
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:25,319
Speaker 1: the tournament and somebody writing Tiger Woods no matter what.

836
00:41:25,520 --> 00:41:29,040
Speaker 1: Because I mean, I think it was well. As Alatorus said,

837
00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:30,759
Speaker 1: people like to say he moves the needle, he is

838
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:33,520
Speaker 1: the needle. Tiger Woods is the one that everyone cares about.

839
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:35,840
Speaker 1: I wrote one of the days, I think it was Friday,

840
00:41:36,120 --> 00:41:38,360
Speaker 1: about what it was like to follow the leaders. You

841
00:41:38,360 --> 00:41:40,600
Speaker 1: could go anywhere on the course. Basically, as long as

842
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:43,240
Speaker 1: you didn't want to watch Tiger there was room anywhere

843
00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:44,799
Speaker 1: you could see. You know, it was a great day

844
00:41:44,800 --> 00:41:46,480
Speaker 1: to watch golf, as long as you wanted to watch

845
00:41:46,560 --> 00:41:49,879
Speaker 1: somebody other than Tiger Woods. His galleries are huge. He's

846
00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:52,359
Speaker 1: the one that everyone cares about. It was so cool

847
00:41:52,400 --> 00:41:54,719
Speaker 1: to be there in nineteen when he when he won,

848
00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:57,480
Speaker 1: and then, as he said he won in nineteen, he

849
00:41:57,560 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 1: played in twenty where there were no fans, was out

850
00:42:00,520 --> 00:42:03,600
Speaker 1: in one. So this is the first time he's had

851
00:42:03,640 --> 00:42:06,480
Speaker 1: fans since he won. I think it was pretty emotional

852
00:42:06,520 --> 00:42:08,680
Speaker 1: for him to be back and to be part of that.

853
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:11,680
Speaker 1: And so even though by the beginning of Saturday it

854
00:42:11,719 --> 00:42:14,640
Speaker 1: was pretty clear that he was not actually going to

855
00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:17,799
Speaker 1: make much noise in the tournament, the fans were still

856
00:42:17,840 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 1: almost as into it, and he was pretty gracious about it.

857
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:22,520
Speaker 1: I mean, he took his hat off a bunch of times.

858
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,600
Speaker 1: He was acknowledging fans, which is not something he did

859
00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,120
Speaker 1: at all when he was younger. And more dominant, So

860
00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:31,120
Speaker 1: I think there was maybe not a valedictory sense to it,

861
00:42:31,160 --> 00:42:34,279
Speaker 1: but definitely he sort of stopped and soaked it in,

862
00:42:34,320 --> 00:42:36,600
Speaker 1: and I think fans soaked it in as well. The

863
00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:40,440
Speaker 1: crowd and the circus around Tiger is something I've always

864
00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:44,800
Speaker 1: been interested in. I covered the Masters after his stint

865
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:47,680
Speaker 1: in sex Rehab, and that was obviously a very different vibe.

866
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:53,600
Speaker 1: But this one, especially post crash, especially after not having

867
00:42:53,640 --> 00:42:56,920
Speaker 1: fans previously the last time he had played, it felt

868
00:42:56,960 --> 00:42:59,360
Speaker 1: like when you're talking about how he was acknowledging the

869
00:42:59,360 --> 00:43:01,359
Speaker 1: crowd and he was tipping his cap, it really did

870
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:05,640
Speaker 1: feel like he was finally easing up on himself a

871
00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:08,200
Speaker 1: little bit. Because Tiger at the Masters is always a thing, right,

872
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 1: and he's the supreme competitor, but he seemed like he

873
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:16,239
Speaker 1: was really enjoying the moment and enjoying just being out there. Yeah,

874
00:43:16,280 --> 00:43:17,839
Speaker 1: he said when he got there, you know, I don't

875
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:19,879
Speaker 1: enter tournaments unless I think I can win. I think

876
00:43:19,880 --> 00:43:21,880
Speaker 1: I can win this one. And that's part of what

877
00:43:21,920 --> 00:43:25,760
Speaker 1: I thought was so impressive about this is that maybe

878
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:28,200
Speaker 1: on the first day it's like, Okay, I just had

879
00:43:28,239 --> 00:43:30,440
Speaker 1: to get here, and then on the second day. You know,

880
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:32,839
Speaker 1: by then he's only one over. He's he was like

881
00:43:33,040 --> 00:43:35,400
Speaker 1: four or five strokes back. Maybe it's not impossible. He

882
00:43:35,440 --> 00:43:37,880
Speaker 1: could still argue to himself he's in the mix. But

883
00:43:38,400 --> 00:43:41,200
Speaker 1: he four putted i think the fifth hole on Saturday,

884
00:43:41,239 --> 00:43:43,479
Speaker 1: and at that by that point it was totally over.

885
00:43:43,719 --> 00:43:45,640
Speaker 1: There was no chance he was going to do anything.

886
00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:49,560
Speaker 1: So that's like seven and a half hours left of

887
00:43:49,800 --> 00:43:52,920
Speaker 1: more than that, I guess of just non competitive wealth

888
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,239
Speaker 1: of just going out there and doing it and you

889
00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 1: know you can't win. That I thought was really impressive,

890
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:00,840
Speaker 1: the level of focus, at the level of pain that

891
00:44:00,920 --> 00:44:05,160
Speaker 1: he was in to endure all that for the moment

892
00:44:05,239 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 1: of being back is over, the moment of having a

893
00:44:07,200 --> 00:44:09,759
Speaker 1: chance is over. You're just slogging through because you like

894
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,359
Speaker 1: to do this. That I thought was pretty cool to see.

895
00:44:12,600 --> 00:44:15,040
Speaker 1: Will he continue slogging moving forward? I know that he

896
00:44:15,080 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 1: said that he wants to play St. Andrews, it's his

897
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: favorite course. But what else should we maybe expect or

898
00:44:19,600 --> 00:44:23,480
Speaker 1: hope to expect from Tiger. I think he'll try to

899
00:44:23,520 --> 00:44:26,279
Speaker 1: do a couple of majors a year. Southern Hills would

900
00:44:26,320 --> 00:44:28,279
Speaker 1: seem like in some ways a good fit for him,

901
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:31,319
Speaker 1: but it's in five weeks, and that might be kind

902
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,799
Speaker 1: of a tight turnaround. The U S Open, I think

903
00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,560
Speaker 1: is going to be fairly punishing, so he may want

904
00:44:36,560 --> 00:44:39,719
Speaker 1: to skip that certainly, sant Andrews. But I don't think

905
00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:42,520
Speaker 1: we'll see him play anything other than the Major's moving forward,

906
00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:45,239
Speaker 1: he said, only the very big events, and it's it's

907
00:44:45,280 --> 00:44:46,960
Speaker 1: really hard. I mean, it took a lot to get

908
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:49,040
Speaker 1: him here and he's going to have to see now.

909
00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:50,800
Speaker 1: He's not going to know for a couple of days

910
00:44:50,880 --> 00:44:53,600
Speaker 1: what this did to him. So he said basically he

911
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:57,799
Speaker 1: was going to start preparing today Monday for possibly trying

912
00:44:57,800 --> 00:45:00,480
Speaker 1: to go to Southern Hills. That's again, that's in five weeks.

913
00:45:00,520 --> 00:45:02,880
Speaker 1: He gets, No, there's no recovery time. You have to

914
00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,160
Speaker 1: start again and try to get there. So I don't

915
00:45:06,200 --> 00:45:08,520
Speaker 1: think even he knows exactly what this life is going

916
00:45:08,560 --> 00:45:10,840
Speaker 1: to look like. I find it shocking that he was

917
00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:12,319
Speaker 1: able to get out there, and it was cool just

918
00:45:12,360 --> 00:45:13,759
Speaker 1: to see him out there, and it was great to

919
00:45:13,760 --> 00:45:16,200
Speaker 1: read all of your stuff from Augusta. You can read

920
00:45:16,239 --> 00:45:18,400
Speaker 1: her on si dot com. I think she has a

921
00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,759
Speaker 1: transporter because she's everywhere all the time, covering everything. But

922
00:45:21,880 --> 00:45:24,400
Speaker 1: we appreciate her making time for us here at Sports

923
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:28,040
Speaker 1: Illustrated Weekly. Stephanie Epstein, thanks for this, Thanks for having me.

924
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,400
Speaker 1: Sports Illustrated Weekly is a production of Sports Illustrated and

925
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,720
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio,

926
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:43,160
Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever

927
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:45,840
Speaker 1: you get your favorite shows. And for more of Sports

928
00:45:45,880 --> 00:45:50,239
Speaker 1: Illustrated It's best stories and podcasts, visit SI dot com.

929
00:45:50,239 --> 00:45:53,120
Speaker 1: This episode of Sports Illustrated Weekly was produced by Cooper McKim,

930
00:45:53,239 --> 00:45:56,760
Speaker 1: Jessica Armoski, and Isaac Lee, who was also our sound engineer.

931
00:45:57,280 --> 00:46:00,640
Speaker 1: Our senior producer is Dan Bloom. Our exact to producers

932
00:46:00,640 --> 00:46:04,080
Speaker 1: are Scott Brody and me John Gonzalez. Our theme song

933
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:07,279
Speaker 1: is by Nolan Schneider. Thanks for listening, and if you've

934
00:46:07,280 --> 00:46:12,480
Speaker 1: stuck around this long, we leave you with this. We

935
00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:15,640
Speaker 1: have decided that this is just the Stephanie Epstein show now,

936
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:18,440
Speaker 1: so we'll just have you on every week to talk.

937
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:20,920
Speaker 1: I look forward to seeing that reflected in my compensation.