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Speaker 2: Welcome in What's Driving Nigart Episode two thirty eight jam
Speaker 2: Back Show. Today, we have a conference finals. We are
Speaker 2: going to have a new champion. For the first time
Speaker 2: in the history of the NBA, there is not in
Speaker 2: the final four a single person who has ever won
Speaker 2: a league MVP. It's the first time we've ever had
Speaker 2: a conference finals that does not have someone who has
Speaker 2: already won a league MVP. It's almost like maybe we've
Speaker 2: been giving those MVPs up to the wrong person. But listen,
Speaker 2: that's not what we're talking about today. We're talking about
Speaker 2: the games. Demonse's here. I'm fresh off a trip from
Speaker 2: Los Angeles. Who's great to see you. A bit of
Speaker 2: a surprise. I surprised Demons at work. I don't know
Speaker 2: how much he appreciated that. I also think there's probably
Speaker 2: some weird inner office politics he has to deal with
Speaker 2: when I come in. But that's fine. I don't mind
Speaker 2: making a few other people feel a little uncomfortable at
Speaker 2: times if need be. But it was great to see you.
Speaker 2: We shared two outstanding meals, A nice little crawfish feast
Speaker 2: even though it's not really the season, and then you know,
Speaker 2: some great dumplings, so that was wonderful. I played in
Speaker 2: a poker tournament. We'll see if we have time to
Speaker 2: get to that. But we've got to get to Nugget Simberwolves.
Speaker 2: So let's get to what missed the cut. Here is
Speaker 2: what is not in today's show. The NBA All Rookie
Speaker 2: team being announced. Don't care. These other two things I
Speaker 2: do care about. Actually, Thursday's show is gonna be an
Speaker 2: odd one because I haven't wanted to. I didn't want
Speaker 2: to discuss the Harrison Butker thing in you know, just
Speaker 2: a small SoundBite, and then the Schefler thing happens. And
Speaker 2: so Thursday's show, we're gonna talk about the cops and
Speaker 2: Harrison Bucker. Just letting you guys know right now. So
Speaker 2: it'll be a little bit of a different show. It'll
Speaker 2: be a good show. But that's what we're doing on Thursday. Also,
Speaker 2: the Red Please America, do not buy into the stupid,
Speaker 2: inaccurate headlines that Red Lobster American institution. It went belly
Speaker 2: up because of endless Shrimp. They went belly up for
Speaker 2: the same reason. Countless of our institutions have gone belly up.
Speaker 2: They got bought and stripped clean by private equity. Private
Speaker 2: equity bought Red Lobster, then bought the land that the
Speaker 2: Red Lobster stores were on, then leased the land back
Speaker 2: to Red Lobster at an exorbitant rate. They couldn't service
Speaker 2: the debt, they couldn't pay for it, and now Chaterbay
Speaker 2: Biscuits are gone. That's what happened, Demanse. Somehow just slid
Speaker 2: off the screen. I don't know what's going on, And
Speaker 2: in that regard, I do see timberwolves there. Maybe that
Speaker 2: was on purpose, Demanse. Let's get to the actual show.
Speaker 3: Oh he's back.
Speaker 2: I'm okay.
Speaker 3: Thanks Bell all right, So a classic two by you.
Speaker 3: Denver was bounced by Minnesota and had the largest blown
Speaker 3: lead in a Game seven in history. You're celebrating like
Speaker 3: you nailed the series or like Denver didn't get Minnesota
Speaker 3: didn't get win the skin of your teeth. Sorry, but uh,
Speaker 3: you didn't even make a pick, So go ahead and
Speaker 3: take your victory lap. I know there's gonna be plenty
Speaker 3: you got to talk about with Jokicchen, probably even Lebron somehow.
Speaker 3: So we're gonna put thirty five minutes up on the
Speaker 3: clock for this topic alone, and the fans will be
Speaker 3: able to vote on the side if you'll make the
Speaker 3: time or not.
Speaker 2: Okay, So you're gonna be thirty five minutes to discussed.
Speaker 3: Under over to be specific.
Speaker 2: Sorry guys, Okay, yeah, so people can vote in the chat.
Speaker 3: That's fine.
Speaker 2: No, this wasn't a classic two by me because you're right,
Speaker 2: I didn't pick. I didn't make a pick in the series,
Speaker 2: and then when I did, I think I ended up
Speaker 2: saying nuggets in seven at the very end. And so no,
Speaker 2: I don't get credit for this series pick. And I
Speaker 2: am not going to do anything unfair or untoward when
Speaker 2: discussing one of the biggest collapses in NBA history. What
Speaker 2: I am going to do is give a fair appraisal
Speaker 2: of what happened, and the Timberwolves obviously deserve credit, and
Speaker 2: so let me give that on the front end. But
Speaker 2: as often happens in sports, the bigger story is the loser,
Speaker 2: particularly because we're gonna have more time to talk about
Speaker 2: the winner. And listen, I haven't bought so much into
Speaker 2: the Anthony Edwards Michael Jordan comparisons. But if this guy's
Speaker 2: gonna be able to be, you know, pretty damn inefficient
Speaker 2: in a massive spot and then get all the credit
Speaker 2: for the win, maybe he's more like Jordan than I thought.
Speaker 2: I mean, my goodness, gracious, But in seriousness, Anthony Edwards
Speaker 2: finding a way to put his imprint on the game
Speaker 2: despite being six of twenty four is what great players do.
Speaker 2: As far as biggest game seven comebacks, on that list
Speaker 2: is some iconic games biggest second half game seven comebacks.
Speaker 2: This is the biggest by far, twenty points in the
Speaker 2: second half. But on that list are the twenty two
Speaker 2: thousand Timberwolves, I'm sorry, Blazers, Lakers, the game that kind
Speaker 2: of culminated in the Kobe to Shaq lob and then
Speaker 2: Kobe Shack running up the court pointing at Kobe. That
Speaker 2: was the two thousand Blazers. Shaq and Kobe came back
Speaker 2: there another game in the Western Armens Finals. Another Game
Speaker 2: seven comeback was the twenty ten NBA Finals Celtics Lakers,
Speaker 2: where Kobe was exactly six of twenty four like Anthony
Speaker 2: Edwards was, but added fifteen rebounds. Ron Ard tests now
Speaker 2: a world piece, hit the huge three and the Lakers
Speaker 2: get that title. I so Anthony Edwards was not the
Speaker 2: star of this game, but never lost his confidence. The
Speaker 2: two guys on the timberwlf side of things that I
Speaker 2: want to give massive credit to are two guys that
Speaker 2: I have been very critical of. First one is Rudy Gobert,
Speaker 2: and unlike Draymond Green, just because I've been critical of
Speaker 2: Gobert in the past, I'm not going to be dishonest
Speaker 2: about his impact. He in these playoffs has the best
Speaker 2: plus minus differential of any player in this series. The
Speaker 2: Timberwolves crushed when he was on the court and side
Speaker 2: from Game two got crushed when he was off the court.
Speaker 2: In this series. His ability to roam, which is his
Speaker 2: defensive assignment allowed for them to shut off the water forever.
Speaker 2: Everyone butt joker. And this idea that all, well, if
Speaker 2: you're the defensive player of the year, you have it
Speaker 2: is your responsibility to shut down the best offensive player
Speaker 2: in the league is belied by history. A fun fact
Speaker 2: for you. And again, I have been critical of Rudy
Speaker 2: Gobert in the past because of his playoff deficiencies. They
Speaker 2: did not show up here. There are not many four
Speaker 2: time defensive player of the years. Rudy go Bear is
Speaker 2: one of them. Another one is to Kimba Mutumbo. To
Speaker 2: Kimba Mutumbo once in the NBA Finals had to play
Speaker 2: the best player in the league, Shaquille O'Neal. In those finals,
Speaker 2: what did four time Defensive Player of the Year to
Speaker 2: Kenbe Mutumble hold Shaquille O'Neal to. The answer is nothing,
Speaker 2: He didn't hold him to anything. Shack averaged third v
Speaker 2: three sixteen and five on fifty seven percent shooting. Also
Speaker 2: the idea that the defensive player of the year must
Speaker 2: have an ego where I am going to abandon what
Speaker 2: my team wants me to do. Instead, I am going
Speaker 2: to guard the other guy's best player. Draymond knows better
Speaker 2: than that because in every damn Finals he played Lebron James,
Speaker 2: he didn't guard Lebron James. Andre Iguidala won Finals MVP
Speaker 2: for holding Lebron James to thirty six, thirteen and nine
Speaker 2: for the series because the Warriors defense was unlocked by
Speaker 2: Draymond guarding the other team's worst player and roaming, the
Speaker 2: same thing the Timberwolves do with Rudy, So shout out
Speaker 2: to Rudy. The other guy is Cat Kat, who I
Speaker 2: have considered a good stats, bad team guy, not a winner,
Speaker 2: not committed defensively, kept them in this game in the
Speaker 2: first half when Anthony Edwards had nothing, when Rudy was
Speaker 2: fumbling with the ball. There were multiple times when it
Speaker 2: looked like the Nuggets were gonna blow it open, and
Speaker 2: there was one possession in particular, the Nuggets had just
Speaker 2: gone up fifteen late second quarter and Cat hit a
Speaker 2: three to cut it to twelve. Cat, also, because of
Speaker 2: his strength, was able to do something so that when
Speaker 2: the Lakers played the Nuggets, the Lakers had Anthony Davis
Speaker 2: doing what Rudy does, or they tried that multiple times.
Speaker 2: You roam, but then Ruey had to do what Cat did,
Speaker 2: which is you guard Djokich. The problem is when Jokisch
Speaker 2: would back into Rudy, Rudy would get knocked backwards five feet.
Speaker 2: When Jokis knocked into Cat, Cat stood his ground and
Speaker 2: was able to stype a bit. Now, again, Jokic was
Speaker 2: phenomenal in games four and five and was I thought good,
Speaker 2: not great, but good in Game seven. But Karl Anthony
Speaker 2: Towns kept them in this game, played solid defense, winning basketball.
Speaker 2: So those guys get credit, no question about it. They
Speaker 2: get credit. And now we get to have what will
Speaker 2: go down as one of the greatest series in NBA history.
Speaker 2: From a talking perspective between Luca and Ant, I mean,
Speaker 2: it is going to be in multiple languages, It is
Speaker 2: going to involve snarls, It is going to involve I
Speaker 2: imagine bad breath. I can't wait for it. But we'll
Speaker 2: talk more about that later when we talk Luca. Now,
Speaker 2: we do need to do the Nuggets piece of this.
Speaker 2: This is a historic collapse. There is no way around that.
Speaker 2: There is no out for that, there is no excuse
Speaker 2: for that. You are the defending champions up three to
Speaker 2: two against a team with no history, no pedigree, no champions.
Speaker 2: In fact, the only guy on this team who had
Speaker 2: played in a single game bigger than every game of
Speaker 2: this series was Mike Conley a decade ago. And once
Speaker 2: you go up three to two with a fully healthy team,
Speaker 2: and that part's important, you're down by fifty fifty in
Speaker 2: Game six and you lose Game seven at home despite
Speaker 2: being up fifteen at halftime in twenty in the second half.
Speaker 2: The Nuggets starting lineup Demonse going into this series had
Speaker 2: lost two games ever against Western Conference teams in that building. Ever,
Speaker 2: when it's Jamaal MPJ, Gordon Jokic KCP, that's starting five
Speaker 2: at home against the West playoffs and regular season combined,
Speaker 2: had lost twice. Ever, they lost three times in this series,
Speaker 2: including a historic collapse in a Game seven at home.
Speaker 2: So how and why does that happen? Go ahead, Demonse,
Speaker 2: if you want to jump in rule it's the history.
Speaker 3: I don't know how much more history the Nuggets have
Speaker 3: then the Timberwolves. I guess. I guess they won the
Speaker 3: finals last year.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're a defending champion. That's the history. The
Speaker 2: history is the right now, they're the defending champion. Every
Speaker 2: single guy playing for the Nuggets played in games, uh
Speaker 2: bigger games eleven months ago. Zero guys playing for the
Speaker 2: Timberwolves except for Mike Conley, had ever played in a
Speaker 2: bigger game in their career. They were at home, they
Speaker 2: had a lead, and this was not a scenario where
Speaker 2: the other team gets red hot and runs away in hides. No,
Speaker 2: and this is what makes the collapse harder to swallow.
Speaker 2: This game was a possession game the bulk of the
Speaker 2: fourth quarter, and the Nuggets did not have answers. So
Speaker 2: the Timberwolves go on the great run at the end
Speaker 2: of the third quarter to cut a twenty point lead
Speaker 2: to a nineteen point lead. They then take a three
Speaker 2: point lead early in the fourth quarter. Michael Porter Junior
Speaker 2: hits the one shot he hits seemingly the whole game
Speaker 2: to tie the game at seventy seventy to a piece.
Speaker 2: They then just don't have answers. They have opportunity after opportunity,
Speaker 2: and their possessions go like this. Joker missed three, and
Speaker 2: Joker shot twenty six point four percent from three this postseason.
Speaker 2: It was a weakness for him this postseason. Last year,
Speaker 2: he couldn't miss. This year, he couldn't hit it. That
Speaker 2: twenty six point four percent, by the way, is the
Speaker 2: exact to the tenth of a percentage that Lebron actually
Speaker 2: shot from three last postseason when folks were speculating should
Speaker 2: they give Lebron the Dylan Brooks treatment Darren to shoot
Speaker 2: great players go cold from three. At times it happens,
Speaker 2: but it hurt them. Jokic misses a three next Denver possession,
Speaker 2: Michael Porter misses a three, next Denver possession, Jokic hits
Speaker 2: his one three, I think one of his two threes
Speaker 2: for the game. Now again eight minutes left, down two.
Speaker 2: The next possession is when Rudy hit the turnaround and
Speaker 2: you're down four. That then led to a Aaron Gordon
Speaker 2: miss layup, followed by an Aaron Gordon turnover. Joker, however,
Speaker 2: follows that up with his other made three of the game,
Speaker 2: and again you're down just three points and they just
Speaker 2: can't connect. Mpj misses a three, Joker misses, gets his
Speaker 2: shot blocked, and then when Jamal makes a couple plays
Speaker 2: and again you're down it goes Joker miss lay up, turnover,
Speaker 2: Jamal Joker miss three, and all of a sudden you're
Speaker 2: down ten and Anthony Edwards is mother effing that old
Speaker 2: man in the crowd and it's good night, good luck.
Speaker 2: So so so, how did you get here? So what happened?
Speaker 2: And how rare is this? And what do you do
Speaker 2: moving forward? Those are the questions for Denver. So I
Speaker 2: want to start with how rare is this? Because right now,
Speaker 2: what everyone's saying, oh man, six different champion in the
Speaker 2: last six years, this is the new NBA. Not really,
Speaker 2: So how rare is it for a whole defending champion
Speaker 2: that is healthy to get not follow up their title
Speaker 2: defense with anything. Well, we can go through it, guys,
Speaker 2: and we can go all the way back to nineteen eighty.
Speaker 2: The eighties are very simple to go through. The Celtics
Speaker 2: were in it at you know, won three titles, went
Speaker 2: to five finals. The Lakers won five titles, went to
Speaker 2: eight finals. In the eighties. The Sixers didn't defend their
Speaker 2: title well, but it was their fourth trip to the
Speaker 2: finals that was kind of their last stand. The Pistons
Speaker 2: obviously went to three straight finals, one two. The Bulls
Speaker 2: defended their title every year that Michael Jordan's started the
Speaker 2: year with the team. The Rockets won a title and
Speaker 2: defended it. Right, So now we're through the eighties and nineties.
Speaker 2: In the nineties, the Spurs won a title and then
Speaker 2: ran into the Lakers repeatedly. The Lakers win three. The
Speaker 2: Spurs then, you know, win another one. On the back
Speaker 2: end of that. The Pistons win a title and then
Speaker 2: go back to the finals the very next year in
Speaker 2: a game seven. The Heat did not defend their title
Speaker 2: well at all, and it's a kind of a weird
Speaker 2: spot for them. You can say Shack got old, but
Speaker 2: he played another like four years that. The Shack d
Speaker 2: Wade Heat did not defend their title well at all.
Speaker 2: The Celtics win, the Spurs obviously won five total titles.
Speaker 2: The Spurs, I'm sorry. The Celtics go in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eight, they're injured in or win in two thousand
Speaker 2: and eight, they're injured in O nine, they're back there
Speaker 2: in a game seven NBA Finals in twenty ten, the
Speaker 2: Lakers win a title and defend it, win another one.
Speaker 2: The MAVs twenty eleven win that title and don't defend
Speaker 2: it at all, And it's kind of a weird one, right. Obviously,
Speaker 2: the Heat win two, the Spurs win their last one.
Speaker 2: We then have the Warriors go on their run. The Calves,
Speaker 2: how do they defend their title? They go back to
Speaker 2: the NBA Final and then we get to this weird era, right,
Speaker 2: But over the last forty years, there was the four
Speaker 2: heat where it's like, what the hell happened that four?
Speaker 2: Pardon me? The six heat, like, what the hell happened there?
Speaker 2: The twenty eleven Maps, okay, twenty nineteen Raptors, they didn't
Speaker 2: defend their title at all. Kawhi Leonard left. The twenty
Speaker 2: twenty Lakers, they didn't defend their title at all. Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis injured in the playoffs. The twenty twenty one Bucks,
Speaker 2: they didn't defend their title at all. Chris Middleton injured
Speaker 2: in the playoffs, misses all of round two. The twenty
Speaker 2: twenty two Warriors, they didn't defend their title at all.
Speaker 2: What happened? Will Draymond Green punched one of his teammates
Speaker 2: and the season went to hell from the beginning. The
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three Nuggets didn't defend their title at all.
Speaker 2: What happened, Well, that's the question. What happened? Was it injuries?
Speaker 3: No? You think the Bucks was a little weird. They
Speaker 3: still had Giannis. I guess they they lost Chris Middleton,
Speaker 3: but they still had The best player was considered to
Speaker 3: be the best player at the time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but there was. But we know what happened, We
Speaker 2: know what their second best player was out and they
Speaker 2: lost in They lost in round like there is a
Speaker 2: you can say they shouldn't have lost it. And by
Speaker 2: the way, I'm we can pause on the Bucks thing
Speaker 2: because I'm good with a lot of these Bucks conversations.
Speaker 2: I'd like to have them. But I still think at
Speaker 2: least they had a you can say the Bucks looked
Speaker 2: like the overwhelming favorite. Chris Middleton gets injured early in
Speaker 2: Round one and does not come back and they end
Speaker 2: up losing in seven to Boston. If Jamal Murray had
Speaker 2: missed the last ten games for the Nuggets, it does
Speaker 2: feel differently. Flatly, it does. And so the question is
Speaker 2: what happened? Why were they not good enough? And I
Speaker 2: know folks are gonna expect right now that I'm gonna
Speaker 2: hang this on Jokic. I'm not Jokic. Was Jokic. Game
Speaker 2: four and five by Jokic in this series were as
Speaker 2: close to perfect offensive basketball as one can play. And
Speaker 2: Game seven he was good. I don't think he was
Speaker 2: great I alway, but I thought he was good in
Speaker 2: game set exactly right, exactly right. The so, but here
Speaker 2: is what I am So. What happened was, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: was nothing happened. This is about what is supposed to
Speaker 2: happen for any team in league history that is not
Speaker 2: either a legendary all time dynastic team or any team
Speaker 2: that doesn't have one of the seven or eight best
Speaker 2: players in the history of the sport on it. This
Speaker 2: is how it can go. You won a title, it
Speaker 2: was unbelievable, you were the deserving champion. But you're not
Speaker 2: a dynasty. And the questions all of a sudden are
Speaker 2: about to get a lot harder because when you look
Speaker 2: at the Nuggets moving forward, what are they going to
Speaker 2: do with KCP who is a pending free agent assuming
Speaker 2: he opts out. You desperately need him. Are you going
Speaker 2: to pay him? Because you weren't able to keep Bruce Brown,
Speaker 2: and Bruce Brown if he weren't playing in these playoffs,
Speaker 2: maybe you win. You missed him. Michael Porter Junior is
Speaker 2: on the books for thirty five million, thirty eight million,
Speaker 2: forty one million. Is that the best use of that money?
Speaker 2: Aaron Gordon has a player option after next season. You
Speaker 2: desperately need him he's making twenty five million a year,
Speaker 2: and Jamal Murray, you have to extend this off season.
Speaker 2: And then you have to delicately gently say, hey, Jamal,
Speaker 2: if for the first time in your career, you could
Speaker 2: come into a season in shape rather than play yourself
Speaker 2: into shape, it would be helpful, it would. I mean,
Speaker 2: everyone's like man, Jamal Murray, he just goes to this
Speaker 2: different level in the playoffs, Like well, he goes to
Speaker 2: a different level by the end of the season because
Speaker 2: he's a peak condition. He's at his peak playing shape
Speaker 2: and caught up to him a bit this year, and
Speaker 2: so it gets hard and it gets tough, and that's
Speaker 2: why sports are great. But it's also why and now
Speaker 2: I will circle back around. It's also why so much
Speaker 2: of the commentary and the accolades about this team always
Speaker 2: felt like we were two steps ahead of reality. It
Speaker 2: always felt like we were trying to press fast forward
Speaker 2: on eras and places in history and throwing terms around
Speaker 2: like better than a chema lajauan. And I just wanted
Speaker 2: us to wait a beat. I just wanted us to no, definitively,
Speaker 2: the simple question of is Nikoi Jokic forget where he
Speaker 2: is in history, Is he the best player of his
Speaker 2: own era? Because I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 2: I do not know who is going to be better
Speaker 2: him or Yannis. And let's see how this next month
Speaker 2: goes and whether or not my guy Luka really throws
Speaker 2: himself in that conversation. Because right now, Jokichiannis are One
Speaker 2: is forty three and thirty six in the playoffs. One
Speaker 2: is forty four and thirty six in the playoffs. One
Speaker 2: has three MVPs, One has two MVPs and one Defensive
Speaker 2: Player of the Year. They One has two conference finals appearances.
Speaker 2: One has two conference finals appearances. One defended their title
Speaker 2: by losing in seven in round two, the other defended
Speaker 2: their title by losing in seven in round two. Both
Speaker 2: guys had epic all time championship runs culminating in brilliant
Speaker 2: NBA finals, and one guy hasn't been close to being
Speaker 2: back there since. The other guy. We'll see. Yannis has
Speaker 2: six All NBA caliber seasons, Jokicic has five. Yannis has
Speaker 2: five First Team All nbas Jokich has three. Right now
Speaker 2: on the pyramid, on the lists, they've gotta be neck
Speaker 2: and neck, and I am not gonna sit here and
Speaker 2: kill Joker for them not defending their title, just like
Speaker 2: I didn't sit here and kill Yannis for him not
Speaker 2: defending for them not defending theirs. But let's just take
Speaker 2: a beat on the anointing and on the greatest offensive
Speaker 2: player we've ever seen. Stuff, Just a breath, And let's
Speaker 2: also remember for the guys in that upper upper crust
Speaker 2: they lived in late May and early June, after a
Speaker 2: ton of long seasons, Magic went to nine finals. Kareem
Speaker 2: went to ten, Brons been to ten, Steph has been
Speaker 2: to six, Shack went to six, Kobe went to seven. Okay,
Speaker 2: Duncan went to six. Anybody Bird went to five, Jordan
Speaker 2: went to obviously six. Russell I know it's you know,
Speaker 2: we don't we don't talk about Russell. Russell went to twelve, okay,
Speaker 2: Wilt went to five. Let's those guys that we are
Speaker 2: so quick to elbow out of the Dream who I
Speaker 2: didn't mention Dream went to three. Doctor j who we
Speaker 2: throw out went to four in the NBA, two in
Speaker 2: the ABA. So that's six. Durant, who has been just
Speaker 2: cast aside entirely for Jokic, entirely. Durant has been to four. Well,
Speaker 2: one with the Thunder, three with the Warriors. So because
Speaker 2: Duran Durant got took the Thunder there when he was
Speaker 2: twenty three. So again right, long time ago. So let's
Speaker 2: just all I'm asking Dirk, now, Dirk, Dirk's to me
Speaker 2: a guy jokich is has ascended past, but it's not
Speaker 2: not miles apart. Dirk went to two one one one
Speaker 2: league one a single league MVP for him as opposed
Speaker 2: to three for Joker. But so, and this is why
Speaker 2: the MVP stuff, I must admit, does me just a
Speaker 2: bit well, because so much of the commentary around this
Speaker 2: player in this team would have been more measured and
Speaker 2: would make more sense if he was, as he probably
Speaker 2: should be, a two time MVP. It's like, okay, then
Speaker 2: we can have a real conversation like Durant versus Joker.
Speaker 2: One's got one, MVP one has two, but he did this,
Speaker 2: Dirk versus Joker one is one, MVP one is two,
Speaker 2: but he did this, and I'd have a Joker added
Speaker 2: Dirk those things. But it's the those the premature MVPs
Speaker 2: on the front end and now the deserved ones on
Speaker 2: the back end. Add it to where it's like, well,
Speaker 2: the guy does have the same number of MVPs as
Speaker 2: Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, and and so what are
Speaker 2: we talking about here? He does have as many as Durant,
Speaker 2: Shaq and Kobe combined. So what are we doing here?
Speaker 2: And I all I want is an accurate reading of
Speaker 2: the story. And the story here is Joker was good
Speaker 2: enough for his team to advance, his teammates were not.
Speaker 2: And I also think Jamal Murray and Michael Malone needed
Speaker 2: a bit of a reality check, both of them. Both
Speaker 2: of those guys, while excellent, had been living in a
Speaker 2: luxury penthouse paid for by their best friend. And while
Speaker 2: you know, listen, they kicked in and they helped and
Speaker 2: they were good at what they did. Both of those
Speaker 2: guys started, in my opinion, carrying themselves as is, as
Speaker 2: if it was a Big Three situation when it was
Speaker 2: more yet that the Street band. What do you mean,
Speaker 2: what's unfair to tell me?
Speaker 3: I mean, he's hitting game winners, he carries a little
Speaker 3: when he needs to. I think being a little like
Speaker 3: to the to the Denver, I think you might be
Speaker 3: be being a little unfair to the surrounding cast because
Speaker 3: they had a bad game seven. I get that, but
Speaker 3: they did get it to a game seven after going
Speaker 3: down oh to from home, and it's like those guys,
Speaker 3: those guys.
Speaker 2: Go to a home how did that?
Speaker 3: Wait?
Speaker 2: Wait, wait, wait a second, how did they fall down
Speaker 2: o to at home? Were they not? Were they absent
Speaker 2: from those games? Part of the reason they were in
Speaker 2: the hole? And then hold on, you said, I'm being
Speaker 2: unfair to Jamal Murray. Tell me the mate again. I'm
Speaker 2: going to keep up with this. Be honest. You's a
Speaker 2: bucket conversation. Okay, tell me. Tell me the massive distinguishing
Speaker 2: factor between Jamal Murray and Chris Middleton. I want to
Speaker 2: know it because I saw Chris Middleton hit game winners
Speaker 2: in the playoffs. I saw Chris Middleton be an awesome,
Speaker 2: awesome robin to a clear cup batman. I saw all
Speaker 2: of it. What I didn't see was Chris Middleton handle
Speaker 2: the adversity the way Jamal did. I didn't see that.
Speaker 2: And what I didn't see from Coach Bud was him
Speaker 2: the Finally, it's like, oh kind of deal. I didn't
Speaker 2: see Coach Bud when they won Preen the way I
Speaker 2: saw Michael Malone, and I didn't see Coach Bud when
Speaker 2: they lost throw a tantrum. I didn't see those things,
Speaker 2: and so what I I am not saying again, Jamal
Speaker 2: Murray is as good as any player in NBA history
Speaker 2: to never be an All Star. He's probably the best
Speaker 2: ever in that group. So that's kind of a it's
Speaker 2: like being it's a weird category to be in. But
Speaker 2: he is an excellent number two who had a rough postseason.
Speaker 2: It's fine, but there there was a level of, to me, unearned.
Speaker 2: I don't know if arrogance is the right word, but
Speaker 2: stature that I felt. I felt Joker every step of
Speaker 2: this journey. Once Joker became super high profile, I didn't listen.
Speaker 2: Joker early in his career got thrown out of a
Speaker 2: playoff game because of nasty flagrant and the shoven on
Speaker 2: the Morris twin in the back. I didn't love as
Speaker 2: years ago. Since Joker has been face of the league adjacent,
Speaker 2: he has conducted every step perfectly, perfectly. They tried debate
Speaker 2: him in the postgame into saying Denver was the better team.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't do it. He was like, no, we play
Speaker 2: a seven game series, we lose. That means they're the
Speaker 2: better team. So I either I've got no I've got
Speaker 2: no arrows for him because he doesn't deserve any arrows.
Speaker 2: Have some arrows. A lot of my joker angst is
Speaker 2: really media criticism, is really talking less about him and
Speaker 2: more about my colleagues that I think were so in
Speaker 2: such a rush to press fast forward on something they
Speaker 2: didn't let it play out. And a little bit of
Speaker 2: almost Yannis protectionism, because I thought Yannis Yannas scored fifty
Speaker 2: points to win a championship. The next year, looks like
Speaker 2: they're gonna win it again. He doesn't have his robin
Speaker 2: for the playoffs, they lose, and then all of a
Speaker 2: sudden people are like, well, Yannis is great, but you
Speaker 2: know what I mean, if you need a bucket, can
Speaker 2: you count on him? I'm like, I don't know. The
Speaker 2: guy averaged forty two points a game for the final
Speaker 2: five games of a finals, Like, I think you can
Speaker 2: count on it. So there was a little bit of that,
Speaker 2: I will admit, where I felt like one guy was
Speaker 2: being elevated way ahead of the other. But these are
Speaker 2: real questions now. And if you're the Nuggets, how strong
Speaker 2: of a position are you in moving forward? That's a
Speaker 2: real question too. Because I watched these playoffs, and Christian
Speaker 2: Brown is fine but doesn't want to shoot and can't shoot,
Speaker 2: and that could be a problem. Peyton Watson eliminated from
Speaker 2: the rotation justin Holidays thirty four years old. Now we'll
Speaker 2: see what Nause and Strawther and these young guys who
Speaker 2: got no playoff run whatsoever, what they evolve into. But
Speaker 2: life comes at you fast in this league, man, and
Speaker 2: that team is about to be a second Apron, super
Speaker 2: expensive team that when you get down to brass tax
Speaker 2: on this to Monsey. The question they have to ask
Speaker 2: themselves is this, it's really only one question for the offseason. Well,
Speaker 2: I guess it's two. One is do we want to
Speaker 2: you know, overpay to keep KCP. The answer that is
Speaker 2: probably yes, you have to. But the other question is this,
Speaker 2: are we shopping Michael Porter Jr. Can we turn his
Speaker 2: thirty five million dollars into something better? That's the question
Speaker 2: they're gonna have to ask themselves, because am I ready
Speaker 2: to say, like, oh, this team can't you know, they've
Speaker 2: hit their sailing, they can't win. Of course I'm not
Speaker 2: ready to say that.
Speaker 3: Like they were, like you can say, I feel like
Speaker 3: you get some good stuff for MPG.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think he's gotta be yes, and I think
Speaker 2: you could. I also think it's a unique spot because
Speaker 2: he hasn't shown the ability to create off the bounce
Speaker 2: at all, right, and so and he's a lack of
Speaker 2: daisical defender. So he's super valuable in certain like they
Speaker 2: have two guys in MPJ and Aaron Gordon who might
Speaker 2: be more valuable to them than to almost anyone else.
Speaker 2: Like Aaron Gordon would never be more valuable to any
Speaker 2: team in the league. Dan the one he's on with Denver.
Speaker 2: You know you don't have to run a single play
Speaker 2: for him. He's gonna guard the other team's best wing.
Speaker 2: He's got no you know he's gonna do the dirty work,
Speaker 2: add toughness, right, huge asset for them specifically. Now that
Speaker 2: doesn't mean there's no other team like that, but they're
Speaker 2: at the top of the list, and that was a
Speaker 2: great trade they made in acquiring him MBJ. Again, like,
Speaker 2: you need to find the right fit and it needs
Speaker 2: to be a team that can have one of their
Speaker 2: wings never need the ball. I mean the team that
Speaker 2: I would imagine would love to have him as the Suns,
Speaker 2: not they could use them at all, but because they
Speaker 2: just want the same version. They just want worse version,
Speaker 2: market type on down the list. But uh, and so
Speaker 2: they My point is it's real questions. They have demons,
Speaker 2: it's real questions.
Speaker 3: So I've got a question for you. So Denver losing
Speaker 3: to Minnesota, this say is how how are the Lakers
Speaker 3: looking at this point? Doesn't that make them look even worse?
Speaker 3: And then you also say they've got like a top five,
Speaker 3: top ten change the game type of guy and they
Speaker 3: play the Nuggets and they lose, and okay, bad?
Speaker 2: Who wait? When did what do you mean a top five,
Speaker 2: top ten change the game type of guy?
Speaker 3: Top ten Lebron Lebron? You were saying that he was
Speaker 3: like one of the guys that still impacts the game
Speaker 3: on a super heavy level, and then ended up getting
Speaker 3: a he got the gentleman sweep. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I don't think the Lakers would have lost to the
Speaker 2: Nuggets with with peak Lebron. I think that. I don't.
Speaker 2: I mean, maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think I
Speaker 2: saw I saw Pete Lebron uh dominate the league for
Speaker 2: a decade. No, I don't think they would have lost.
Speaker 2: I don't think right now the Lakers have one of
Speaker 2: those guys. They obviously don't. They have the oldest player
Speaker 2: in the league. And it's here's the thing that folks
Speaker 2: I think get frustrated by when it comes to trying
Speaker 2: to troll me on basketball things. I don't give a
Speaker 2: shit about the Lakers. I am not a Lakers fan.
Speaker 2: Lakers fans mostly don't like me because of the old
Speaker 2: Kobe stuff. I have no loyalty to the Lakers. I
Speaker 2: am a basketball fan, and Lebron James is my favorite player. Ever,
Speaker 2: nothing would make me happier than Lebron leaving that organization
Speaker 2: that is run like the family Dollar Like I don't so.
Speaker 2: I yeah, does it mean the Lakers were further from
Speaker 2: a championship, Sure, but it's also one of the reasons
Speaker 2: why nobody in their right mind was picking the Lakers
Speaker 2: to win the championship, even when I picked them to
Speaker 2: beat the Nuggets. I had the MAVs winning the championship
Speaker 2: and we'll see how that one turns out. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I don't, I don't care. I'm not and I'm also
Speaker 2: not really trying to do the transitive property of series.
Speaker 2: I don't think that's the story though, But go ahead,
Speaker 2: if you have more questions. Maybe ones that don't annoy
Speaker 2: me as much as that one.
Speaker 3: Go ahead. Yeah, so you got mad at the producers
Speaker 3: for the Chiefs Denver comparisons. But it seems like that
Speaker 3: could still be true if and the Tea Wolves equal
Speaker 3: Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
Speaker 2: So here's the problem with a number of those things,
Speaker 2: of those Mahomes and comparisons, and this is the or
Speaker 2: the Chiefs comparisons. So Patrick Mahomes is twenty eight years old,
Speaker 2: and he has his three championships and has been to
Speaker 2: four Super Bowls, the equivalent of the NBA Finals and
Speaker 2: six conference finals. Nikolajokich is older than Patrick Mahomes. He's
Speaker 2: older than it. So it's not like, oh, they're on
Speaker 2: the track the Chiefs were on The Chiefs were on
Speaker 2: that track when my guy was twenty three years old.
Speaker 2: So if we want to retroactive, be like, oh, last
Speaker 2: year was the Nuggets twenty nineteen year and this year
Speaker 2: is their twenty twelve. In fact, no, also, that's not
Speaker 2: even the history of it. The Chiefs followed up their
Speaker 2: first championship by getting back to the championship, is what
Speaker 2: they did. The Borough thing happened to the following year
Speaker 2: and then they won two straight. So no those and
Speaker 2: also will that is where I'll get irritated. Patrick Mahomes
Speaker 2: at worst, at worst is going to finish as the
Speaker 2: second greatest player in the history of his sport. They're
Speaker 2: not in the same grouping guys. They're not. And so
Speaker 2: again it's like that. It's it is not fair to Joker,
Speaker 2: it's not fair to anyone with an IQ over seventy.
Speaker 2: It's not fair to people who appreciate the games. To
Speaker 2: compare these two, one is already a minted dynasty, the
Speaker 2: other has won one title. That's okay, that's where that's
Speaker 2: where we're at, and that's fair. That's fine. The if
Speaker 2: you want to right now, the far better comp for
Speaker 2: the if we want to go cross sport, the far
Speaker 2: better for the Nuggets is the Rams won a championship
Speaker 2: banner hangs forever, had a very disappointing championship defense, and
Speaker 2: then is trying to get back to that place. And
Speaker 2: last year I thought the Rams could have But and
Speaker 2: this is the last thing I'll say on this, but
Speaker 2: then I'll move on. Man, you don't wanna waste the
Speaker 2: healthy seasons. And this is where the Nuggets maybe got
Speaker 2: unlucky already. Maybe the Nuggets feeling is our championship window
Speaker 2: was cracking open in the bubble when we made those
Speaker 2: conference finals, when we had the back to back three
Speaker 2: to one comebacks against Utah and the Clippers made the
Speaker 2: conference finals, get cracked by the Lakers, and then Jamal
Speaker 2: Murray got hurt and two of our contention years were
Speaker 2: ruined by Jamal Murray's injury, which is probably accurate, right,
Speaker 2: And now we've had two that the next two years
Speaker 2: when we've been fully healthy we had we won a
Speaker 2: title and then we you know, blew the biggest lead
Speaker 2: in the history of a Game seven at home. And
Speaker 2: the point I'm making is this team doesn't have the
Speaker 2: depth in order to deal with somebody's spraining an ankle
Speaker 2: and missing three weeks of the playoffs, and and they
Speaker 2: don't have the luxury the Celtics have, which is we
Speaker 2: could lose a guy like Kristaps Porzingis and it doesn't
Speaker 2: matter because our path to the finals is so laid
Speaker 2: out for us. The West is gonna be brutal every year,
Speaker 2: and some hard financial realities are coming for the Denver Nuggets,
Speaker 2: and we'll see all they respond, but defending your title
Speaker 2: by getting fifty balld in a closeout game and then
Speaker 2: blowing the biggest game seven lead in the history of
Speaker 2: the sport. It's on the resume. It's not the first
Speaker 2: thing on the resume, but it's it's before the old
Speaker 2: story continues on page A seven part of the resume.
Speaker 2: It's on there. How long did how long did we go?
Speaker 2: Demanse went forty.
Speaker 3: Three, So it's it's mirrored for me, So uh okay,
Speaker 3: I mean we went for it. I bet the kid's
Speaker 3: college fun. On the over, where do I collect my winnings?
Speaker 2: Fifty seven percent said over those fifty seven percent were winners.
Speaker 2: Take quick break, talk about the other series, What's Right?
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 2: Welcome back in What's Right with Nick Wright episode two
Speaker 2: thirty eight. Again a reminder, and it's a reminder because
Speaker 2: I'm putting I'm saying it multiple times because I sometimes
Speaker 2: I say I'm gonna talk about something on the pod
Speaker 2: and then I'm just like, I don't have the energy.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a heavy topic, but I'm pot committing
Speaker 2: myself to it. Thursday show, I'm gonna use what Happened
Speaker 2: with Scottie Scheffler, pardon me, thank you, And we're gonna
Speaker 2: talk a little bit about the cops. And also we
Speaker 2: haven't had a pod since Butcker's comments at the graduation
Speaker 2: because we didn't have a pod last Thursday, so we'll
Speaker 2: talk a bit about that as well. So we'll do
Speaker 2: both of those things. Speaking of, by the way, the
Speaker 2: Chiefs and an off season that has been you know,
Speaker 2: not without some news blotter this front on Football Talk.
Speaker 2: The photographer who said initially that Rashi Rice hit him
Speaker 2: at the club, evidently the photographer wants the chargers dropped.
Speaker 2: So that was a weird one where the initial allegation
Speaker 2: was that Rashid texted the guy come back to the club,
Speaker 2: the guy came back to the club and he clocked
Speaker 2: him in the face. But then the next day the
Speaker 2: owner of the club was like, yeah because the yeah,
Speaker 2: so it was it wasn't like paparazzi photographer. It was
Speaker 2: like club photo, you know what I mean, if you're
Speaker 2: out a nightclub and they have like the person who
Speaker 2: does it for like the club's social media something like that.
Speaker 2: It was more that type of thing. I guess, yeah,
Speaker 2: because at first when you hear allegedly hit a photographer.
Speaker 2: You think it's one of those things like walk into
Speaker 2: your car, someone taking a picture, you push the camera.
Speaker 2: That's the image at least I had in my head.
Speaker 2: But then the allegation was this guy was working at
Speaker 2: the working left, was texted told to come back, came back,
Speaker 2: and she hit him in the side of the face. Like, well,
Speaker 2: it's pretty bad to see you're already in trouble. It's
Speaker 2: pretty bad. But then the next day the owner of
Speaker 2: the club came out and said, none of this happened.
Speaker 2: He said, I was there and I reviewed the videotape.
Speaker 2: None of it happened. But then the police report came
Speaker 2: out and the police report said the photographer had a
Speaker 2: visible mark on his face, so seemingly something happened to him.
Speaker 2: So it's like it was an odd it was an
Speaker 2: odd story to begin with. Now, according to uh I
Speaker 2: think w or. Tom Pellisaro of NFL Media says that
Speaker 2: the man said there was a misunderstanding and he wants
Speaker 2: any and all charges dropped. So that's not going to
Speaker 2: go anywhere. I don't know what did or didn't happen.
Speaker 2: That's the thing. The thing is this, even if he
Speaker 2: is one hundred percent innocent on this, okay, And this
Speaker 2: is where I'm gonna you know what, I'm gonna ask
Speaker 2: your opinion demons, and then we'll get back to the basketball.
Speaker 2: But there's a little breaking news on it. And I
Speaker 2: get annoyed with people who think that there are.
Speaker 3: Something dress address for.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's yeah. I mean it's like, guys,
Speaker 2: I do like you. The folks who say that they
Speaker 2: they act as if one hundred percent of the content
Speaker 2: I produce is like the seven minutes of clips a week.
Speaker 2: At first, things first puts out of you know what
Speaker 2: I said. I'm like, guys, there's been a lot of
Speaker 2: dress that did not make it into your Twitter feed.
Speaker 2: But but I so let me ask you this. If
Speaker 2: I sound like an old man here, if you think
Speaker 2: what I'm saying is reasonable, if you think you're honest
Speaker 2: to god opinion okay, okay, if you're Rashi Rice and
Speaker 2: the street racing thing happened and is hanging over your
Speaker 2: head from the moment that happens until the moment it
Speaker 2: gets resolved. With the NFL and with uh the court system,
Speaker 2: I don't want I don't I don't want you at
Speaker 2: clubs A club Yeah, is that a reasonable take in
Speaker 2: your opinion?
Speaker 3: It's a it's a reasonable take if you I think
Speaker 3: the guy has the ability. I don't. It's a it's
Speaker 3: a weird one. But yeah, i'd say that's reasonable. Are
Speaker 3: you saying, like as a coach, Andy Reid front office whatever, Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'd say that's fair to to.
Speaker 2: That I'm saying. I'm saying if if I were his dad,
Speaker 2: if it were you, and you had made a big mistake,
Speaker 2: that the consequence is we're pending for right that we
Speaker 2: don't know how much trouble you're in, and within a
Speaker 2: month you're like out partying. I am nervous even if
Speaker 2: now and I think this is and I think my
Speaker 2: stance on that is proven by this exact thing, because
Speaker 2: either within a month you were out partying and made
Speaker 2: another egregious decision, or within a month you were out partying,
Speaker 2: did absolutely nothing wrong and now get drawn into more controversy, you.
Speaker 3: Know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Like the either way, it's kind of evidence of let's
Speaker 2: just chill on the hanging out with our buddies in Dallas, Like,
Speaker 2: let's just let's just chill a bit, man. And so yeah,
Speaker 2: so there there's.
Speaker 3: A super bowl Man having a good year.
Speaker 2: I know, but let yeah exactly all right, let's get
Speaker 2: to the back to the basketball, all right.
Speaker 3: So the Knicks players can finally get some rests. The
Speaker 3: injuries were just too much. I think Josh Hart got injured,
Speaker 3: Og was injured, and then Brunson fracture his hand at
Speaker 3: the end there. So they have a sup They have
Speaker 3: their superstar and Jalen Brunson in a good supporting cast
Speaker 3: and a lot of assets. So with that said, Lebron
Speaker 3: James to the Knicks next year.
Speaker 2: God, I'd love it. I mean, it would be awesome.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's gonna happen. Uh. I think it
Speaker 2: is on the board, but not at all likely in
Speaker 2: the least. I think it's possible. I think you would
Speaker 2: fill a massive need for them. They need another piece.
Speaker 2: They obviously should spam the Sun's phone calling for Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2: I understand a lot of folks want Mikhale Bridges because
Speaker 2: he's the Nova guy and it at if I'm being honest,
Speaker 2: I don't think the Knicks are in Mikale Bridges away
Speaker 2: from being champions. I think, then you have this awesome roster,
Speaker 2: but you don't have the guy. Well, listen, Jalen Brunson
Speaker 2: has made himself the guy. But if he's gonna be
Speaker 2: your guy, you need a better number two than McHale Bridge, right, exactly.
Speaker 2: I do want to talk about the injuries though, because
Speaker 2: I think people are being so intellectually dishonest about the
Speaker 2: TIBs piece of it, which is folks are acting like
Speaker 2: because of what the injuries were, that Tibbs playing his
Speaker 2: guys these insane minutes has nothing to do with the injuries,
Speaker 2: and that just that defies the obvious logic and the
Speaker 2: most basic point of this. Are you more likely to
Speaker 2: suffer a basketball related injury when you're playing basketball or not?
Speaker 3: On the bitch, right, that's this area.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Like the people are like, oh, well, only Oge's
Speaker 2: was an overuse injury. Yeah, but I And so this
Speaker 2: was the analogy that I that I used on the
Speaker 2: show that I'm going to use again. If I run
Speaker 2: a delivery business, okay, a courier business in New York City,
Speaker 2: and my business is known for working my guys incredibly
Speaker 2: long hours, having them run or do more deliveries than
Speaker 2: any other company, and I don't give them water breaks,
Speaker 2: And at the end of the year I've had, I've
Speaker 2: lost ten couriers to injury or other and I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: hold on the second guys. Only two of them was
Speaker 2: dehydration exactly. The other seven got hit by cars or
Speaker 2: turned an ankle. You can't say that's on me. It's like, well, no,
Speaker 2: but they had more opportunities to get run over by
Speaker 2: somebody on an ee bike because they were out in
Speaker 2: the streets more. There are more opportunities for these guys
Speaker 2: to get hurt because of the minutes they're playing. And
Speaker 2: if it to us, could take the TIBs and analogy further.
Speaker 2: If every year I ran this business, around September, people
Speaker 2: wrote articles like, oh my goodness, Nick's delivery business overachieving again.
Speaker 2: Everyone said he couldn't hit these quotas with that number
Speaker 2: of employees, but look what he's doing. And then every year,
Speaker 2: by Christmas time, my customers are disappointed, and I'm like, well,
Speaker 2: what do you want for me? All my guys are hurt,
Speaker 2: Like what do you want for Like, well, I don't know, Adjust. Adjust.
Speaker 2: I respect him as a coach, He's obviously an excellent coach.
Speaker 2: He needs to tweak this one thing. Man, There is
Speaker 2: every coach, they play their best players all the minutes.
Speaker 3: Do they get there without him playing the players the
Speaker 3: way he does?
Speaker 2: But I guess my point is, what is there? Do
Speaker 2: they get to round two? Yeah? Maybe? Like this is
Speaker 2: like this was not a you know, a historic run,
Speaker 2: and I like the Knicks, but you the this whole
Speaker 2: thing of and we saw it with the We've seen
Speaker 2: it throughout his career, and so I just I just
Speaker 2: chill a little bit, bro, especially when you you wouldn't
Speaker 2: play Alex unless you had family members kidnapped, and then
Speaker 2: you finally play him. Burg's like, I'm all right, i
Speaker 2: might miss a few defensive rotations, but I'll help you out.
Speaker 2: Like it's just too much, all right, let's move on.
Speaker 3: So your lard Slavinian Son has a chance to make
Speaker 3: it to his first finals, but in the Timberwolves obviously
Speaker 3: stand in his way. So everybody's ready to crown ant.
Speaker 3: But if Luca ends up winning this series, does it
Speaker 3: belong to Luca?
Speaker 2: Well, no, winning this series, Winning this series won't give
Speaker 2: Luca the best player in the league crown. I don't
Speaker 2: even know if winning the championship definitively will I think that.
Speaker 2: I think that if Luca wins the title, that crown
Speaker 2: is up for grabs with Giannis and Luka and Jokic
Speaker 2: vying for it. Jokic, I think, is still in the
Speaker 2: pole position fairly because yes they lost, but they didn't
Speaker 2: lose because he no showed, So I don't think you can't.
Speaker 2: It's not just the guy who wins the title becomes
Speaker 2: the best player in the league. That's not how it works.
Speaker 2: But it puts Luca in that territory. And I and
Speaker 2: here's the other thing I want to say about Luca.
Speaker 2: The guy twice in his career has had an All
Speaker 2: Star ish teammate and both times made the conference finals.
Speaker 2: When Jalen Brunson was ascending, they go to the playoffs.
Speaker 2: They make the conference finals. Last year was a bad year,
Speaker 2: no doubt about it, missed the playoffs, trade for Kyrie midyear.
Speaker 2: This year, Kyrie, who's not even playing that great this postseason,
Speaker 2: they make the conference finals. Luca's played seven series playoff
Speaker 2: series in his career. Six of the seven were against
Speaker 2: top nine defenses in the league that year, and now
Speaker 2: they're playing the number one defense. He already has beaten
Speaker 2: the number one seed twice. He's already just the tenth
Speaker 2: guy in NBA history to be the best player on
Speaker 2: a multi time conference finalist before he turns twenty six
Speaker 2: years old. Like, the guy's a legendary player, and I
Speaker 2: think they can win the title.
Speaker 3: Go ahead, demanse you think he stops? Uh oh, yeah.
Speaker 3: If Luca wins the finals, will he be the runaway
Speaker 3: MVP for next season?
Speaker 2: Well, he's always in contention for it. I think he'll
Speaker 2: start with a lead.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, But what was the other question you were gonna ask?
Speaker 3: He stopped Jalen Brunson, Like, I feel like Jalen Brunson
Speaker 3: left Dallas and immediately like sprouted. Do you think that
Speaker 3: Luca was responsible for any of his.
Speaker 2: So here's the thing on Jalen Brunson. So, I don't
Speaker 2: the I think Jalen Brunson. What happened with him was
Speaker 2: he got way better as a player, right, So, Jalen
Speaker 2: Brunson was Was he a second round pick or into
Speaker 2: first round pick? I don't hold on. I gotta look.
Speaker 2: I don't I think he was a second round pick,
Speaker 2: but I gotta look. So Jalen Brunson was an early
Speaker 2: second round pick, Yes, and so his his first year
Speaker 2: in the league. He was nine points a game. His
Speaker 2: second year league, he was eight points a game. His
Speaker 2: third year in the league he showed something was thirteen
Speaker 2: points a game. And then that year, let me make
Speaker 2: sure I have this right, Yeah, that year in the
Speaker 2: playoffs was brutal. Was brutal, and wasn't really all that
Speaker 2: playable in the playoffs. Uh, but you know what, Brutal's unfair.
Speaker 2: He wasn't brutal. He Carlisle didn't trust him, is what
Speaker 2: it was. He didn't get many opportunities. Sixteen minutes a
Speaker 2: game and eight points a game. So it's unfair to say.
Speaker 2: But it was a tough matchup for him against those Clippers,
Speaker 2: and and the MAVs didn't pay him because of that.
Speaker 2: And then the next year he ascended and in the
Speaker 2: postseason was twenty one a game after in the regular
Speaker 2: season being sixteen a game. He's just gotten better and
Speaker 2: better as a player. Now, would he have turned into
Speaker 2: this alongside Luca, No, because they're No, because they're they're
Speaker 2: But I think he But I think that's because of
Speaker 2: the style of players they are. They both made the
Speaker 2: ball so much right exactly, and so I don't but
Speaker 2: I don't think Luca was holding him back. I think
Speaker 2: he you know, he's a very undersized score first guard
Speaker 2: that took a lot of time to develop. All right,
Speaker 2: let's see is that and we'll talk about is that?
Speaker 3: What would you describe Kyrie? He's game ass because I
Speaker 3: know he's been like shape shifting and playing different to
Speaker 3: what they need. But what would you say? Because I
Speaker 3: was like, I'm kind of is that not?
Speaker 2: What is?
Speaker 3: Slightly? It is?
Speaker 2: Except Kyrie had those three years playing with Lebron, so
Speaker 2: he learned how to be his best self alongside a
Speaker 2: guy that's going to have the ball in his hands
Speaker 2: a ton And Kyrie's up more of a dead eye
Speaker 2: shooter than Jalen and so you know, those two things
Speaker 2: I think. But yeah, that's why I thought the Kyrie
Speaker 2: Luka fit wasn't going to be a great one. And
Speaker 2: Kyrie's had to take a lesser role and Kyrie, to
Speaker 2: his credit, man.
Speaker 3: He's playing to it his well and his.
Speaker 2: Maturity and leadership has been awesome. Like I really think Kyrie,
Speaker 2: I think that post that the video when he was
Speaker 2: with the Nets when I think that was a really devas.
Speaker 2: I think that was a really hard moment for him
Speaker 2: because he was being accused of being anti Semitic, and
Speaker 2: I think, and I said at the time and will
Speaker 2: say it again, I don't think Kyrie is a hateful
Speaker 2: I don't think hate is part of how he operates
Speaker 2: at all. I think he can be stubborn and hard headed,
Speaker 2: and I think that to this day. I don't believe
Speaker 2: Kyrie actually watched that two hour movie that the you know.
Speaker 2: He posts a clip on Instagram. It turns out the
Speaker 2: movie he's talking about, actually you know, paints Hitler in
Speaker 2: a positive light. Kyrie's then asked about it because he's,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of you know, an anti establishment. He's
Speaker 2: more like, bleep you Yeah, I watched it, Yeah, I
Speaker 2: believe you know what, and then it's snowballs on it.
Speaker 2: I think that was a bit of a scarring experience
Speaker 2: sperience from him, and I think he grew because of it.
Speaker 2: And I think that Kyrie trying to He clearly takes
Speaker 2: being a leader, a cultural leader seriously, and I think
Speaker 2: that finally has he has matured to the point of
Speaker 2: understanding so much of his ability to lead and to
Speaker 2: impact communities financially and otherwise is generated from his brilliance
Speaker 2: as a basketball player, and that was being put into
Speaker 2: question because of you know that he was missing games
Speaker 2: and wasn't on playoff runs and all those things. And I
Speaker 2: think he's a more committed defensive player than ever before.
Speaker 2: I think he's been more mature. I think he's been
Speaker 2: trying to be like the wise elder. He's the oldest
Speaker 2: star left in the playoffs at thirty one years old. Like,
Speaker 2: I've been super impressed by Kyrie, super impressed.
Speaker 3: Uh and will turn around.
Speaker 2: He hasn't even played great and despite that, the MAVs
Speaker 2: find themselves in the conference finals.
Speaker 3: All right, next, all right, so my Celtics continue this
Speaker 3: treacherous path to the finals. They've got the Pacers up next,
Speaker 3: Boston Open at minus twelve hundred favorites. Is it worth
Speaker 3: watching or should I just tune in to June sixth.
Speaker 2: For Game one of the finals? Yeah? I mean, I
Speaker 2: mean it's worth watching.
Speaker 3: But they're they're gonna give them, They're gonna give them
Speaker 3: a game or two. I honestly think they might give
Speaker 3: them too. I know they're gonna give them one.
Speaker 2: Well, listen, it's hard to sweep. There's there's no there's
Speaker 2: no doubt about that. It's hard to sweep.
Speaker 3: I snatch up. Yeah, I know, it's the easiest sweep,
Speaker 3: should possibly be good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, And Pacer fans, I get why you're
Speaker 2: annoyed at how Game seven was presented, because the game
Speaker 2: broadcast should give each team equal time, so to speak.
Speaker 2: But this isn't the game broadcast, this is my podcast,
Speaker 2: and I'm not interested in the Pacers. I mean the
Speaker 2: I I'm just not. I mean, shout out to Halliburton
Speaker 2: for rallying in that series against the Knicks after a
Speaker 2: really tough start to the series. They're a good story,
Speaker 2: but they're multile interesting.
Speaker 3: But they they had the most efficient shooting night and
Speaker 3: a Game seven win.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't. I'm happy for him, but I'm not.
Speaker 2: But they don't have any chance.
Speaker 3: Something to look out for them.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to no, I'm I'm but I'm not
Speaker 2: going to pretend like they have a chance to win
Speaker 2: the series.
Speaker 3: They don't.
Speaker 2: And so the Celtics are going to be in the finals.
Speaker 2: And we'll talk more about the Celtics as we get
Speaker 2: closer to the finals. All right, Uh, we've got a
Speaker 2: a I'm not gonna do the poker thing today because
Speaker 2: I don't have time to do it. We'll take quick break,
Speaker 2: come back and answer a few questions next, What's right?
Speaker 2: All right? Welcome back in what's right with Nick? Right?
Speaker 2: All right? Demon say, let's get to a few listener
Speaker 2: questions before I go.
Speaker 3: Sham S reports the Lakers think that JJ Reddick has
Speaker 3: pat Riley type pat Riley like potential. What do you
Speaker 3: think of Lebron's sorry, sorry, the Lakers opinion.
Speaker 2: So I think that the Lakers the thing they most
Speaker 2: like about the idea of hiring JJ Reddick is it'll
Speaker 2: create buzz and if it doesn't work out, they can
Speaker 2: act like Lebron made them do it, when I know,
Speaker 2: definitively for a fact, Lebron has not commented one time
Speaker 2: to the Lakers about this coaching search. The Lakers are
Speaker 2: a poorly run team that make a lot of their
Speaker 2: decisions not based on what's the best possible decision, but
Speaker 2: what's the decision that if it doesn't work out, we
Speaker 2: can keep our jobs despite it. So that's what I think.
Speaker 2: I'm not excited about the idea of the Lakers hiring
Speaker 2: a first time head coach who's never even been an
Speaker 2: NBA assistant. It's also why I hope Lebron James is
Speaker 2: not on the Lakers next year, but I think he
Speaker 2: will be next.
Speaker 3: Scott Murphy asked the Celtics gonna lose lose with non
Speaker 3: Boston NBA fans. If they don't win, it'll be a
Speaker 3: failed season. But if they do, it'll be chalked up
Speaker 3: to an easy path against the injured week East. Scott
Speaker 3: Murphy ass, that's no question, like once a week now
Speaker 3: the no.
Speaker 2: So here's the thing. Are you talking about the conference
Speaker 2: finals or the finals? If they don't win the conference finals,
Speaker 2: it will be a failed season. If they lose as
Speaker 2: minus fourteen hundred favorites to the Pacers, it is a failure. Okay,
Speaker 2: let me make that clear now that you get to
Speaker 2: the finals, I not lose lose if you win the championship.
Speaker 2: If you win the championship, no one will care what
Speaker 2: the path to the finals was. You will be playing
Speaker 2: either Luca or Ant in the finals and if you win.
Speaker 2: The way to make it not a lose lose is
Speaker 2: to win. But if you make the finals through this
Speaker 2: path and then get rolled by one of these two teams, yeah,
Speaker 2: people are gonna say you know that you made the finals.
Speaker 2: But were you the fourth best team in the sport
Speaker 2: that year? Where the MAVs, the Thunder, the Nuggets all
Speaker 2: better than you, and that'll be a fair conversation. So
Speaker 2: go win the championship and it's not a problem.
Speaker 3: Next, Bradley Hammond asked, can you give us a few
Speaker 3: players whose future with their current team is most tied
Speaker 3: to how the season ends? Might not even be a
Speaker 3: player on the one one of the remaining teams.
Speaker 2: Well, you always have to include Jalen Brown because when
Speaker 2: if the Celtics don't win the championship, his name always
Speaker 2: comes up in trade conversations. So there's one Kevin Durant,
Speaker 2: I don't know what his future with the Suns is
Speaker 2: going to be. Donovan Mitchell as well as far as
Speaker 2: teams players on the remaining teams, No, Jalen Brown's the
Speaker 2: only one. All right, Uh, let's go to Dylan Demase.
Speaker 3: Dylan A. Dylan L. Nick. What historical NFL team is
Speaker 3: your count for the Wolves so far these playoffs?
Speaker 2: So I saw that question. I don't know that I
Speaker 2: have a great answer.
Speaker 3: Cam Newton's like, sorry, well.
Speaker 2: That's not a bad one. But that team was fifteen
Speaker 2: and one and Cam was the league MVP. Uh, this
Speaker 2: is like a team based on defense that seems to
Speaker 2: be there early Russell Wilson Seahawks, is I answer? And
Speaker 2: when in year two they win the whole thing? Uh,
Speaker 2: and they beat uh Peyton, Manning and Denver. Oh, they
Speaker 2: beat Denver in the Super Bowl. So off the top
Speaker 2: of my head, Russell Wilson Seahawks, all right? Last one?
Speaker 3: Genghis Khan asked Nick, what happens to your Scoot Henderson
Speaker 3: over Wimby call?
Speaker 2: It was a bad rookie the year pick. I mean
Speaker 2: it was, by the way, it was not a career
Speaker 2: length call. It was it was it was. It was
Speaker 2: for that I picked Scoot to win Rookie of the
Speaker 2: Year because I thought he was going to be more
Speaker 2: NBA ready, and I thought Wimby might not play the
Speaker 2: requisite games. But I clearly undervalued Wmby and clearly overvalued Scoot. Again, folks,
Speaker 2: try to be like, ah, I got you, guys. If
Speaker 2: when I'm wrong, it doesn't happen that often. But when
Speaker 2: I'm wrong, I admit it. The Scoot over the Category three?
Speaker 3: What now I know that he's another Do you think
Speaker 3: Wimby would be good with the Knicks?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think every team. But why are you bringing
Speaker 2: that up?
Speaker 3: Oh? Because you were saying, like the Knicks that piece
Speaker 3: that they're missing. Interesting.
Speaker 2: I think Prime Bill Russell would be good with the Knicks,
Speaker 2: but he's not available. I mean r I P. But
Speaker 2: I mean the I mean Wimby's not available. They could
Speaker 2: offer the deed to Madison Square Garden. He's not available.
Speaker 2: So yeah, there's a lot of guys that could. I
Speaker 2: think Joker would be good with the Knicks. They should
Speaker 2: call and see if they can get him.
Speaker 3: They available.
Speaker 2: No, I'm sorry, I was ending the show and you
Speaker 2: threw out. Do I think Wimby would be good with
Speaker 2: the Knicks? Yeah? I think Justin Jefferson be pretty good
Speaker 2: with the Chiefs. I don't think they're gonna be able
Speaker 2: to get him. Sorry, pal, I don't mean to flame
Speaker 2: you at the end, but there's you just threw that
Speaker 2: out there. It's just a bad take. Yeah, I think
Speaker 2: it'd be great with the Knicks.
Speaker 3: They should call.
Speaker 2: Go could tell world Wide West, you can call San Antonio,
Speaker 2: see what if you'll take a couple future twoes. Demon's
Speaker 2: a great job everyone, Great job, Daniel. Sorry your team
Speaker 2: ended up being a one time champ. No problem with
Speaker 2: that though, there's you still get to hang that banner.
Speaker 2: Talk to you guys on Thursday. What's right? Hey, thanks
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