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Speaker 1: This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What's up, everybody,

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Speaker 1: It's me Jason McIntyre, Straight Fire for Tuesday, February sixteenth.

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Speaker 1: Great podcast ahead, a lot of fun topics. We have

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Speaker 1: a great chat with Eric Pinkis, who covers the Lakers

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Speaker 1: for the Bleacher Report. Lakers fans freaking out all of

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Speaker 1: yesterday about the Anthony Davis. I don't know if I

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Speaker 1: should call it a calf strain or an achilles injury.

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Speaker 1: It's being labeled as both. Obviously, the word achilles gets

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Speaker 1: people on edge. Given everybody witnessed Kevin durant Um when

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Speaker 1: he was back with the Warriors go down, and the

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Speaker 1: Anthony Davis injury which took place late Sunday night against

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Speaker 1: the Nuggets. Listen, it's not season ending. They're gonna put

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Speaker 1: him on the shelf for three weeks and reassess at

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Speaker 1: that point. Um, it's really unclear how severe the injury is.

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Speaker 1: M R I turned up clean, so you know, you

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Speaker 1: can't totally panic. But at the same time, Lakers fans,

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Speaker 1: that's what they do. You know, you won the title

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Speaker 1: last year year. Obviously, gonna freak out when you know

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Speaker 1: a top ten player goes down like Anthony Davis did,

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Speaker 1: so we'll get to that shortly. I did have a

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Speaker 1: couple of topics I want to touch on first, and

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Speaker 1: you know, I'll be brief. First of all, shout out

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Speaker 1: to Chris Broussard and The First Thing's First staff. Had

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Speaker 1: a great fun show on Monday. Listen. I taked it

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Speaker 1: out of l a. I had to wake up at

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Speaker 1: two thirty in the morning, So if if you thought

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Speaker 1: I was bleary eyed, um, I did my best to

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Speaker 1: wake up. How's this. I got a Starbucks drink, my

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Speaker 1: usual Starbucks drink the day before, put it in the fridge,

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Speaker 1: and I warmed it up at like two in the morning.

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Speaker 1: Then to compound that, I took a shower, so I

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Speaker 1: thought I was fresh and a wake I haven't heard

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Speaker 1: any negative comments, but it was a lot of fun.

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Speaker 1: I've never done the show before. I've now done every

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Speaker 1: show on the network. Um, it's a good group, a

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Speaker 1: lot of fun. Let me to two topics real quick.

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Speaker 1: Number one, and it's weird. Tom Brady is going through

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Speaker 1: this thing where he's now being proclaimed as the smart

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Speaker 1: guy who is getting players to come and play with

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Speaker 1: him and go get a ring, right. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to say Antonio Brown was ring chasing. I don't want

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Speaker 1: to say Leonard Fournette was ring chasing. But when Tom

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Speaker 1: Brady calls, you pick up the phone. You're gonna go

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Speaker 1: play with him. You gonna try to win Super Bowl.

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Speaker 1: And it worked. Ground scored twice, came out of retirement,

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Speaker 1: Antonio Brown scored four, net scored like it was a

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Speaker 1: winning strategy. Tom Brady, Wait a minute, did he put

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Speaker 1: together a super team? Did Tom Brady take a page

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Speaker 1: out of, oh, I don't know, Lebron James's playbook and

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Speaker 1: build a really nice team that came together at the

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Speaker 1: perfect time and want a Super Bowl? Isn't that what happened?

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Speaker 1: And I just wonder a lot of people want to

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Speaker 1: take a dump on Lebron James for building super teams

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Speaker 1: and winning titles when Tom Brady just did the exact

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Speaker 1: same thing and was lauded by the media. There was

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Speaker 1: a big column by Ben Wallin in the Boston Globe

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Speaker 1: about how Tom Brady maybe a trend center and Aaron

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Speaker 1: Rodgers is chirping up in Green Bay, and Russell Wilson

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Speaker 1: is chirping up in Seattle. Ay Man, I need some help.

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Speaker 1: I need to get some players out here. So just

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Speaker 1: so we're right, tom Brady does it building a super

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Speaker 1: team getting superstars. By the way, for Nett was a

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Speaker 1: former first round pick Antonio Brown, immensely talented, Hall of Famer,

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Speaker 1: generational talent. Off the field, a knucklehead, but on the

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Speaker 1: field tremendous and Gronk is maybe the best tight end

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Speaker 1: in NFL history. If not, he's certainly you know, one,

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Speaker 1: two or three. So tom Brady basically built a super offense.

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Speaker 1: You know, no disrespect, But those guys are not clamoring

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Speaker 1: to get to Tampa to play with Jameis Winston. They

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Speaker 1: went there for Tom Brady. So when Tom Brady calls

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Speaker 1: him and says, come on down, it's a smart good thing.

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Speaker 1: When Lebron James forms a super team in Miami or

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Speaker 1: Cleveland or l A, it is somehow frowned upon, and

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Speaker 1: we now use it against him in the discussion against

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Speaker 1: Michael Jordan. Just let that sink in for a moment

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Speaker 1: and let that one marinade. Okay, And the second topic

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Speaker 1: that I have, and again I'll bree brief because we

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Speaker 1: gotta get to Eric pink Is here is this college

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Speaker 1: basketball discussion centered around Jalen Johnson, who was a top

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Speaker 1: twenty kid in high school and he picked Duke. It

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Speaker 1: was clear he was going to be a one and done.

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Speaker 1: He goes there. He's had some really nice highlights. He's

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Speaker 1: played well. He's a first round pick. Duke is not

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Speaker 1: having a good season. Coach K's roster is not very good.

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Speaker 1: Coach K is very ornerary this season. He has not

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Speaker 1: been happy. I think he's aware that they're an n

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Speaker 1: c A bubble team. At best. They might have to

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Speaker 1: win the a CC tournament to get in. And Jalen

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Speaker 1: Johnson quit the Duke basketball team. He said, hey, guys,

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Speaker 1: you know what, I had a good run. We're not

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Speaker 1: going to the final four. I'm out. And all these

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Speaker 1: high and mighty college basketball reporters, oh, he's a quitter. Huh.

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Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey and scores of college football players bail on

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Speaker 1: bowl games because guess what, it's irrelevant, it doesn't mean anything.

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Speaker 1: But Jalen Johnson bails on Duke, and he's all of

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Speaker 1: a sudden a bad guy or he's a quitter, and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna hammer and crucify Jalen

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Speaker 1: Johnson because that's what's happening. I mean, like Doug Gottliby

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Speaker 1: is a friend, we're buddies. He's going after the guy

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Speaker 1: John Rostein, who I know a little bit. I don't

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Speaker 1: you know, we follow each other. I die, I've never

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Speaker 1: personally hung out with John Rosty, and he's just lamb

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Speaker 1: basting Jalen Johnson. And of course, you know, you know

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Speaker 1: the college basketball crowd, it's very clicky. Everybody's gonna go

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Speaker 1: after Jalen Johnson. My question is coach k knew what

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Speaker 1: he was getting into. Jalen Johnson was a one and done,

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Speaker 1: whether it was before the season ended, after the season ended,

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Speaker 1: he wasn't coming back for a second year of duke.

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Speaker 1: But coach k has not held up his end of

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Speaker 1: the bargain to put together a winning program that could

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Speaker 1: get to the Final Four. So Jalen Johnson looks around

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Speaker 1: and says, oh, look the g leagues taken off here.

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Speaker 1: These guys are getting paid. I'm not having the usual

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Speaker 1: college basketball experience. There's gonna be no fans at March Madness.

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Speaker 1: There's no fans of my games. It's a freaking global pandemic.

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Speaker 1: I would be better off working out with a personal trainer,

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Speaker 1: signing with an agent, and getting my show on the

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Speaker 1: road so I can get to the NBA, because that's

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Speaker 1: what it's about. And listen, I'm not gonna totally go

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Speaker 1: to the mat for Jalen Johnson because I don't know

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Speaker 1: what's going on behind the scenes, but just the big

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Speaker 1: picture on the surface, you can't hammer this kid. This

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Speaker 1: is the deal with one and Done they're piecing out.

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Speaker 1: Now does it look? Is the perception bad if there's

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Speaker 1: some other stuff that comes out, if Duke suddenly starts

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Speaker 1: leaking to I don't know Jeff Goodman who came out

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Speaker 1: and said, oh, there were some issues with Jalen Johnson

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Speaker 1: and Duke behind the scenes. Yeah, Duke's are gonna start

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Speaker 1: a smear campaign. Good luck, by the way, getting more

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Speaker 1: one and Done guys. Coach k if you want to

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Speaker 1: put that out there, you want to push that narrative

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Speaker 1: to Jalen Johnson was a quitter, quitter and he was

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Speaker 1: an issue behind the scenes and his family and his

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Speaker 1: hanger honors and blah blah blah. Good good luck with that, coach, Kay,

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Speaker 1: Let's see how many more one and Done guys are

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Speaker 1: coming your way. I can't hammer the kid. I don't

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Speaker 1: know if he's causing trouble behind the scenes, that's a

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Speaker 1: different story. But just on the surface, bailing on Duke,

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Speaker 1: which is not good this year, not guaranteed for the tournament.

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Speaker 1: They definitely out going to the final four. What is

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Speaker 1: he doing? What's he doing? Now? We'll talk more about

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Speaker 1: this on tomorrow's podcast, for sure. I just needed to

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Speaker 1: get it out there where I stand on this issue,

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Speaker 1: and and listen, I know people are gonna get upset

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Speaker 1: with me. Said, oh, come on, Jason, come on, you're

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Speaker 1: part of a program. Guys. That's the old way of

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Speaker 1: looking at it. When guys, but Bobby Hurley saved for

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Speaker 1: four years or Christian Latner's day for four years or

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Speaker 1: whatever the numbers were, that's not the modern area. Things

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Speaker 1: are different. You can't compare what happened in the eighties

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Speaker 1: and nineties and even in the early two thousand's to now.

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Speaker 1: You just can't. That's it's a different sport. It's a

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Speaker 1: different model. Things have changed. College basketball is huge money

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Speaker 1: and the players see none of it. This smart move

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Speaker 1: Jalen Johnson would have been to go to the G

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Speaker 1: League or go to my league where I own a

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Speaker 1: team in the NBL in Australia. Okay, like r J

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Speaker 1: Hampton did. Where's r J Hampton Now? He's on the

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Speaker 1: Denver Nuggins roster. He didn't waste time in college. He

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Speaker 1: got paid in the NBL. Gotta shoe, sneaker deal, bolstered

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Speaker 1: his social media profile and all that fun stuff that

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Speaker 1: comes with Oh there's camera crews following him around and

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Speaker 1: he's gonna get a sneaker deal and all that. He's

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Speaker 1: getting all the trappings because he skipped college basket A

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Speaker 1: ball and college basketball has to deal with this on

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Speaker 1: their own. They've got problems, they've got to fix it.

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Speaker 1: I don't know what the solution is for them paying

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Speaker 1: the kids. Obviously he's a step of the right direction.

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Speaker 1: But you're seeing it. I'm telling you. Between the G League,

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Speaker 1: we saw LaMelo Ball go to Europe, then he went

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Speaker 1: to the NBL in Australia. There are options. And if

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Speaker 1: you're one and done and you're not getting paid, what's

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Speaker 1: the point. What's the point. So don't go after Jayalen Johnson.

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Speaker 1: Blame the system. That's why he left. All right, Let's

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Speaker 1: get to our guest, Eric Pinkus, from the Bleacher Report.

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Speaker 1: Jason likes to think he knows everything when it comes

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Speaker 1: to sports. I know what sports stands want, but for

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Speaker 1: everything he doesn't. He knows a guy who does. Let's

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Speaker 1: just say I know a guy who knows. The guy

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Speaker 1: knows another guy. All right, let's welcome into straight fire,

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Speaker 1: a guy who covers the Lakers. They're kind of a

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Speaker 1: big deal right now. Eric pinkis Bleacher Report. I've had

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Speaker 1: him on my radio show. It tell Eric very plugged

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Speaker 1: in on l A. It is a, shall we say,

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Speaker 1: a very difficult start to the week, Eric, for Laker fans. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean when when you see Anthony Davis and you

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Speaker 1: hear the words achilles, you sort of panic because liquor

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Speaker 1: fans remember full well how Kobe's career basically ended. Uh,

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Speaker 1: and so yeah, that's real cause for concern. But the

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Speaker 1: good news is is it doesn't sound like it's anything

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Speaker 1: serious yet. I mean, we kind of heard the same

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Speaker 1: thing when k d had that problem back in the finals.

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Speaker 1: Remember you had like it was his calf, it wasn't

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Speaker 1: his achilles, and then boom towards achilles. So it's not

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Speaker 1: like clear sailing yet. But at the same time, it's

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Speaker 1: not torn or anything. So Eric, even though Anthony Davis

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Speaker 1: is going to be down two to three weeks, maybe longer,

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Speaker 1: I feel like the Lakers are uniquely built to handle

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Speaker 1: this this season. Right. They picked up Montrez Harrold Okay,

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Speaker 1: Dennis Shrewder can carry an offensive load. Horton Tucker is

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Speaker 1: really emerging as a guy. I could see him playing

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Speaker 1: thirty minutes a night for this team as look Ron

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Speaker 1: gets more rest. We'll get to his in a sect.

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Speaker 1: But I know Anthony Davis is great defensively and don't

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Speaker 1: miss that. But I don't know that there's a massive

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Speaker 1: drop off. I don't feel like the Lakers are going

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Speaker 1: to go from second seed to like the seventh seed

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Speaker 1: losing Anthony Davis for three weeks. Yeah. I think this

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Speaker 1: team is built. Let's be honest, it's built around Lebron.

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Speaker 1: Uh He's the engine that drives everything, and it's it

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Speaker 1: goes from being something really really good or elite to

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Speaker 1: championship level when you have Anthony Davison there. Uh So,

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Speaker 1: obviously they're not gonna be anywhere as good as they were.

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Speaker 1: But if you took out Lebron, Anthony Davis can't carry

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Speaker 1: this team like lebron Can and uh, they do have Tre's.

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Speaker 1: They have Marc g Assol, who's you know, adequate. He's

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Speaker 1: a little bit older at this point. Uh, and like

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Speaker 1: Kyle Kuzman has been playing really really well. Markis Morris

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Speaker 1: barely gets any minutes. Uh, so there's a there's a

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Speaker 1: guy who's willing where they're not as good. They're not

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Speaker 1: as good at the rim defensively, and so they're relying

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Speaker 1: on a D to carry that because they don't have

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Speaker 1: the shop blockers like JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard and

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Speaker 1: Dwight took up a lot of space. JaVale didn't play

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Speaker 1: much in the playoffs, So it's not like that's really crippling.

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Speaker 1: I kind of look at what Marc Gasol is doing

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Speaker 1: is a more offensive version of filling in like twelve

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Speaker 1: fifteen minutes a game that aren't necessarily the guts of

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Speaker 1: the game. I mean, they're finishing mostly with tres and

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Speaker 1: and a D, maybe a D at center. They have

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Speaker 1: a lot of options that they lose without Anthony Davis.

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Speaker 1: So I do expect their defense to to dip a

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Speaker 1: bit because they're not as good blocking shots and they

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Speaker 1: rely on a D for that without him. Uh yeah,

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Speaker 1: they're gonna They're already a little week at the rim.

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Speaker 1: They're gonna get a lot weaker defensively. Certainly, Listen, I

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Speaker 1: know the NBA is not gonna want to hear this. Eric,

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Speaker 1: I think you would agree, But Lebron has got to

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Speaker 1: do something about these minutes. And I know, I think

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Speaker 1: I saw the Lakers. Seven of their next eight games

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Speaker 1: are nationally televised games. If you count NBA TV, UM

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Speaker 1: and No. A D, you would assume Lebron's gonna be

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Speaker 1: sitting more given the recent spurt where he was playing

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Speaker 1: like ridiculous minutes. I think three games in a row

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Speaker 1: over forty or something obscene. Um. But the Lakers have

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Speaker 1: to be realistic, like they don't care about the regular season,

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Speaker 1: right Eric, Well, I mean I don't want to say

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Speaker 1: they don't care, but ultimately the goal is to win

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Speaker 1: right to win the championships. So you've got to paste

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Speaker 1: that however you past it. And the season was so

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Speaker 1: the off season was so short. They had three back

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Speaker 1: to back, well back to back to back overtime games,

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Speaker 1: which were kind of a lot of them. They were

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Speaker 1: against teams that was like Oklahoma City, thunder teams that

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Speaker 1: probably aren't at the same level as the Lakers, and

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Speaker 1: they kind of slipped a bit and because that Lebron

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Speaker 1: had to play a heavy load. But I don't think

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Speaker 1: they're gonna sit Lebron for any national at national TV games.

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Speaker 1: They can if they need to. Uh, there's there's you know,

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Speaker 1: they put in rules that you can't rest your stars

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Speaker 1: without having good reason. You can't just like you know,

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Speaker 1: your superstar sits a national, nationally televised game just because

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Speaker 1: you want to rest them. So what the Lakers have

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Speaker 1: done dating back to the change of that rule, there's

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Speaker 1: always Lebron and Eadie listed something on the injury report.

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Speaker 1: There's always like growing for Lebron or whatever. So there's

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Speaker 1: you know, they there. They put themselves in a position

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Speaker 1: so that if they need to pull them, they'll just

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Speaker 1: say whatever is acting up, and they will. They are

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Speaker 1: definitely going to monitor his minutes, but they're not gonna

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Speaker 1: sit them. They're not gonna just say, Okay, Lebron, you

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Speaker 1: have you have to sit. They're gonna leave it up

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Speaker 1: to him and he would rather play. I think they're

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Speaker 1: in a little bit of a quandary, you know. I

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Speaker 1: think Lebron wants to catch like the all time scoring record,

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Speaker 1: like he wants to catch Cream and Bill Jabbar like,

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Speaker 1: you know, I think he wants. I think his goals

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Speaker 1: are you know, massive. So I don't know that he's

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Speaker 1: just gonna sit. He's still gonna play. He still wants

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Speaker 1: to do his thing. And you know, you can argue that,

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Speaker 1: you know, some some people argue that resting is overrated

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Speaker 1: and that continually playing is better for the body. I

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Speaker 1: don't know that the answer. I think it's very subjective,

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Speaker 1: but I think Lebron airs moron. He'd rather play than sit. Yes,

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Speaker 1: So I did first things first on FS one on Monday,

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Speaker 1: and one of the um stat guys sent me this, Eric,

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Speaker 1: this is crazy. I know you say that, like Lebron

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Speaker 1: can't just rest if it's national and TV, And I

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Speaker 1: get that. UM players who are thirty six or older

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Speaker 1: averaging over twenty minutes a game this season. There's Lebron

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Speaker 1: at thirty four minutes a game, there's Carmelo at twenty

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Speaker 1: five minutes a game. They're both thirty six years old.

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Speaker 1: And Andre Iguodala is thirty seven and he's averaging twenty

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Speaker 1: one minutes a game. Lebron is playing insane minutes. Like

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Speaker 1: I know that we want to call him an iron man,

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Speaker 1: but Eric, we've seen the Lakers Lebron two years ago.

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Speaker 1: The league doesn't need that. And obviously Lebron for his

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Speaker 1: whole legacy Jordan's stuff, he don't need that. Like, isn't

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Speaker 1: the smart move to just say, you know what, Lebron's

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Speaker 1: got a shin injury. He's sitting this one out at

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Speaker 1: tough Darts n b A. Yeah, Well tell that to Lebron,

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean, he's a very powerful individual. Beyond

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Speaker 1: what he does on the court, he has a lot

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Speaker 1: to say in this team. I know Rich Paul represents

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Speaker 1: like basically half the team, including a d his agent. Uh.

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Speaker 1: You know I I've talked to different executives around the

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Speaker 1: league and they'll say that that Lebron is the essentially

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Speaker 1: the GM or the you know, the vice president of

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Speaker 1: basketball operations, and that Rob Polinka works for him, and

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Speaker 1: that I don't need to slight Rob because Rob has

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Speaker 1: done a great job with this team. But that's what

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Speaker 1: some of his contemporaries are saying, is that you know

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Speaker 1: what Lebron wants. Lebron is going to get and that's

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Speaker 1: I mean, the Lakers just got championship. Is that a

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Speaker 1: negative on the Lakers budding up and pairing up with

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Speaker 1: one of the greatest players of all time? No, So

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Speaker 1: that's that's where we are now, right. But if a

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Speaker 1: d is out, he's out at least until the end

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Speaker 1: of the All Star Break, which is somewhere around you know,

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Speaker 1: early to mid March. So let's say he doesn't come

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Speaker 1: back until let's just say March. I'm adding like ten

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Speaker 1: days something like that, right, So that's like a little

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Speaker 1: over a month. Even if we say six five to

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Speaker 1: six weeks. Uh, maybe the Lakers will be fine. And

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Speaker 1: I think just there raw talent alone, they'll get a

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Speaker 1: lot of wins. But everyone comes to play the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: like you know, it's you know, you might not your

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Speaker 1: team maybe crappy this year. And and to be honest,

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Speaker 1: most teams are still in the hunt. I mean the

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Speaker 1: Wolves aren't, and that's about it. Like everybody else is

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Speaker 1: still right and remember this year, they're doing a playing

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Speaker 1: tournament through you know, the top ten teams have a

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Speaker 1: shot to make the playoffs. So if you're if you're

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Speaker 1: like okay, So I mean as of this moment and

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Speaker 1: it changes, you know, moments, game by game. But you know,

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Speaker 1: the thunder are like two and a half out of

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Speaker 1: the eighth seed, but there like one game behind that

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Speaker 1: tenth spot. So and they're in they're in second to

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Speaker 1: last place. And the Wizards are you know, maybe they're

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Speaker 1: three out of the eighth spot. They're in that mix.

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Speaker 1: So everybody's playing hard. The Lakers are not gonna have

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Speaker 1: any easy games, and so Lebron is gonna have to decide.

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Speaker 1: But he knows his body. Um, he's been an iron man.

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Speaker 1: And you know, I covered Kobe and saw how Age

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Speaker 1: caught up to him and and just like that. I

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Speaker 1: mean it's easy to forget how brilliant he was in

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Speaker 1: the season where he got hurt in Uh, Kobe was

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Speaker 1: out of his mind. I mean he was playing crazy minutes.

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Speaker 1: He was carrying that team. Uh, and he was you know,

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Speaker 1: people we were saying the same thing, like he's you know,

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Speaker 1: he's ridiculous what he's doing. Uh. You know, they're very

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Speaker 1: different human beings. Their bodies are very different. Kobe was

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Speaker 1: definitely lengthier and and kind of I don't want to

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Speaker 1: you know, he was thinner. Lebron is like a tank.

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Speaker 1: So he knows his body and if you know if

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Speaker 1: he's right, then do what you gotta do. You just

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Speaker 1: worry that at some point it'll come tumbling down because

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Speaker 1: it happened so quickly with Kobe. But you know, I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna the Lakers at least are going to put their

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Speaker 1: trust in Lebron. Yeah. Let me ask you this, Eric,

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Speaker 1: do you foresee the Lakers making any kind of trade

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Speaker 1: here at the deadline? Uh? You know, a couple of

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Speaker 1: big names magically are b being held out, and they

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Speaker 1: happen to play around the same position as a d

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Speaker 1: One is Andre Drummond. Uh, he's being shelved indefinitely. Um,

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Speaker 1: so Cleveland can shop him and the others Blake Griffin

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Speaker 1: in Detroit. Again, neither of these guys is in the

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Speaker 1: same galaxy right now as Anthony Davis. However, they are

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Speaker 1: warm bodies. Andre Drummond's averaging a double double and uh,

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Speaker 1: Blake Griffin it can still give you, you know, twenty

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Speaker 1: on a given night. Um, do you foresee the Lakers

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Speaker 1: making any moves at this juncture? Well, let's put it

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Speaker 1: this way. I think that there will be some adjustment

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Speaker 1: before the playoffs that their roster will have one or

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Speaker 1: two tweaks. But the challenges is that, you know, the

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Speaker 1: NBA has what's called a soft cap, where there's no

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Speaker 1: hard spending limit. Like football, you have a hard cap

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Speaker 1: is you can't go over at period. But in the NBA,

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Speaker 1: there there there are a few triggers of which the

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Speaker 1: Lakers used to sign Montrez Harrald that locked in a

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Speaker 1: hard cap. So when they signed Mantras, they were limited

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Speaker 1: to what they can spend, and that's at about a

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Speaker 1: hundred and thirty nine million, and they're like at eight plus,

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Speaker 1: like they are at that right at that number, so

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Speaker 1: they are at fourteen players. They even they can't even

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Speaker 1: add a fifteenth player for about I think nine or

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Speaker 1: ten days from now, so you're around the twenty four February.

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Speaker 1: They can't even add a minimum guy. Yeah, so, but

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Speaker 1: but I do expect when that time comes, so in

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Speaker 1: about ten days they will add a minimum guy. Uh.

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Speaker 1: The problem is, let's say you want to go after

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Speaker 1: Andre Drummond. He makes ish million. The Lakers can't just

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Speaker 1: send out twenty whatever and match that. You know, they

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Speaker 1: have to send out twenty eight or more because they're

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Speaker 1: they're at that number. They can't add salary. So now

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Speaker 1: you're like, well, are you trading like KCP and Dennis

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Speaker 1: Shrewder your entire starting backcourt to get a center that

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Speaker 1: you know you already have enough there? You're that's that

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Speaker 1: doesn't make sense when it comes to Drummond. In the

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Speaker 1: case of Blake, if he if he's bought out, which

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Speaker 1: would be surprising because he's out a lot of money

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Speaker 1: this year and next. You know, you can argue it certainly.

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Speaker 1: I know he's got Elie roots. I know he's originally

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Speaker 1: from Oklahoma City. Uh, but you know he spent so

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Speaker 1: long here. He's in the know the comedy industry, the

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Speaker 1: movie industry. He has been in some films, So I

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Speaker 1: wouldn't be shocked if if if he got bought out

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Speaker 1: that he would at least consider the Lakers. Um who

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Speaker 1: knows that that's kind of fanciful. You know, I've been

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Speaker 1: hit up with that all day since the reports came

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Speaker 1: out that Blake might leave the Pistons. But I think that,

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Speaker 1: you know, the more likely thing is, you know, like

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Speaker 1: the thunder have Trevor reason, they try to make a

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Speaker 1: trade by the deadline. Let's say it doesn't happen and

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Speaker 1: they cut a reason and buy him out and he

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Speaker 1: comes to the the Lakers for the minimum or some other

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Speaker 1: center you know reasons. Uh. In this league, he's a two, three, four. Uh,

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Speaker 1: so he would add to the perimeter defense if they're

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Speaker 1: playing against guys like Kawai Leonard or Paul George, he

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Speaker 1: would help. But it doesn't solve the center issue. But

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Speaker 1: you know, I don't know how motivated the Lakers are.

422
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 1: I think instead of trade, or if it was a

423
00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,199
Speaker 1: small trade, you know, we're talking about buyout candidates around.

424
00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:10,440
Speaker 1: You know, after the trade deadline, which is near the

425
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:12,720
Speaker 1: end of March, they'll probably add a piece or two

426
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:16,280
Speaker 1: or maybe you know, in about however many days when

427
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,560
Speaker 1: the math works that they can add just like a

428
00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,359
Speaker 1: minimum guy for a couple of weeks or so. All right,

429
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:23,600
Speaker 1: let me wrapping up the Lakers, let me ask your

430
00:22:23,640 --> 00:22:26,520
Speaker 1: thoughts on Uh, what do you make of Horton Tucker.

431
00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:30,240
Speaker 1: I'm really excited watching him. However, you know they had

432
00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 1: to basically tell Morris like, hey man, we're gonna just

433
00:22:32,760 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 1: straight up, you know, nail you to the bench, so

434
00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:37,399
Speaker 1: Horton Tucker can get some minutes. Like you know, you

435
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:39,680
Speaker 1: read stuff like always untouchable, No way the Lakers could

436
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:41,480
Speaker 1: trade him. But then you're like, Okay, I heard that

437
00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,760
Speaker 1: about Michael Porter Jr. In Denver and he was actually

438
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:48,080
Speaker 1: playing big minutes and getting buckets. Where are we with

439
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:50,320
Speaker 1: Horton Tucker's progress? And I get that he was in

440
00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:54,919
Speaker 1: the G League last year, but Laker fans are geeked. Well,

441
00:22:54,960 --> 00:22:57,040
Speaker 1: I would say the Lakers were ge to And I

442
00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,960
Speaker 1: had heard that the coaching staff was clamoring for him

443
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:05,400
Speaker 1: to play more last season and that UM like his development.

444
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: And I actually had seen him play in the G

445
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:10,240
Speaker 1: League last year and the South Bay Lakers were just

446
00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 1: they weren't very good, and so it was one of

447
00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:15,040
Speaker 1: those things where usually when there's an NBA guy, they're

448
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:17,159
Speaker 1: supposed to dominate in the G League. And so I

449
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,439
Speaker 1: saw him playing really well, and I'm like, Okay, I

450
00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,240
Speaker 1: see he's talented, but is he impacting winning? Like how

451
00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:26,680
Speaker 1: good is he? I couldn't tell um, And the answer

452
00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:30,880
Speaker 1: is pretty pretty pretty good. He's really talented. Uh So,

453
00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 1: you know, I had heard that he had a shot

454
00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 1: to make the rotation this year. Uh remember he's also

455
00:23:36,160 --> 00:23:39,439
Speaker 1: under the Clutch Sports umbrella, so he's in the you know,

456
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:42,919
Speaker 1: and and I think part of what Lebron and Clutch.

457
00:23:43,040 --> 00:23:44,800
Speaker 1: You know, if you look at Lebron as a partner

458
00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 1: of of of Rich Paul, they're trying to build up

459
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,480
Speaker 1: an agency where it's not like everything is just too

460
00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,159
Speaker 1: do Lebron's bidding. They're trying to be bigger and do

461
00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,160
Speaker 1: more than that. And so I don't think they're gonna

462
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,399
Speaker 1: be rushing to dump, you know, I don't think Clutch wants,

463
00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,520
Speaker 1: you know, Taylor Horton Tucker moved. I think, you know,

464
00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,760
Speaker 1: the Lakers are really excited about it. You need somebody

465
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,679
Speaker 1: with Anthony Davis long term, who's a guard who can

466
00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,600
Speaker 1: attack the basket and set them up. And he's like

467
00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,560
Speaker 1: a mini Lebron. Obviously is nowhere near Lebron, you know,

468
00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:21,159
Speaker 1: you know, but it's as far as like you know,

469
00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,760
Speaker 1: he's Lebron is like six eight or nine or whatever.

470
00:24:23,920 --> 00:24:26,960
Speaker 1: Howeverd top bigs Lebron is h Taylor Horn Tucker is

471
00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:28,720
Speaker 1: much you know, shorter. I think he's like I forget

472
00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,639
Speaker 1: what he's listed that maybe six five or six four

473
00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,119
Speaker 1: or something like that, but his his wingspan like seven,

474
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:37,439
Speaker 1: and he's he's you know, he's actually was overweight in

475
00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:39,920
Speaker 1: college and and in in high school. He's in much

476
00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 1: better shape now. But he's got a very strong frame.

477
00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:44,360
Speaker 1: But when I say he's like Lebron and that he's

478
00:24:44,359 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: really hard to stop attacking the basket, he he just

479
00:24:46,880 --> 00:24:50,320
Speaker 1: attacks with reckless, abandoned. Sometimes he's out of control. Uh

480
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,440
Speaker 1: sometimes he'll get crushed on a screen when he's playing

481
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,880
Speaker 1: defense and get lost like this. So there are rookie

482
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,040
Speaker 1: ish mistakes that he's going to make, but these are

483
00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,439
Speaker 1: good mistakes. Like you want somebody who's like going for it,

484
00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:05,480
Speaker 1: who's young, especially on these teams. That's how like the

485
00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:10,080
Speaker 1: Kobe Shack Lakers aged out and you know the Boston Celtics,

486
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,920
Speaker 1: you know they they aged out with KG and and

487
00:25:12,920 --> 00:25:16,000
Speaker 1: and Paul Pierce. You have to have an influx of

488
00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 1: young talent that can keep you going. And we've been

489
00:25:20,080 --> 00:25:22,359
Speaker 1: talking about Lebron like he's gonna be around for another

490
00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:24,320
Speaker 1: five or ten years. I don't know. Maybe he is,

491
00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,680
Speaker 1: but um, you know, I don't know if Taylor Horton

492
00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:29,720
Speaker 1: Tucker is anywhere ever going to be an All Star

493
00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: or anything like that. Who knows, but he's really showing

494
00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 1: really positive signs for the Lakers at this point. Yeah,

495
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:37,200
Speaker 1: all right, we'll wrap up with this, Eric, I am

496
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 1: just curious. You know, let's say Anthony Davis is out

497
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,120
Speaker 1: for I don't know a month, Like you said, um,

498
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,680
Speaker 1: who is the team to beat in the West with

499
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,840
Speaker 1: Anthony Davis on the shelf? I mean, you know, Utah

500
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:52,640
Speaker 1: is leading the West record wise, but let's be realistic.

501
00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:54,800
Speaker 1: They're not a great matchup for the Lakers. They have

502
00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:57,399
Speaker 1: nobody on the wing to contend with Lebron and you

503
00:25:57,440 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: know Rudy Gobert uh twenty and fifteen great, wonderful, Like

504
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,680
Speaker 1: I don't know that Rudy Gobert is impacting a series

505
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,200
Speaker 1: against the Lakers. So is it back to the Clippers

506
00:26:08,200 --> 00:26:11,960
Speaker 1: who haven't had Paul George now for a couple of weeks. Well,

507
00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 1: I mean, I still think the Nuggets are among the elite.

508
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:21,080
Speaker 1: You know, Uh, they just took it to the Lakers,

509
00:26:21,119 --> 00:26:22,760
Speaker 1: but you know that was the day that the game

510
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: eight he got hurt. Uh. And the first game that

511
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,000
Speaker 1: you played, the Nuggets took it to the Lakers in

512
00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:32,000
Speaker 1: the first half, and then the Lakers just destroyed Denver

513
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,800
Speaker 1: in the second. Uh. Obviously without a d then Denver

514
00:26:36,040 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 1: is probably on par or you know, they have the

515
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:43,359
Speaker 1: kind of firepower that can contend with Lakers. Uh, the

516
00:26:43,359 --> 00:26:45,920
Speaker 1: Clippers are really good. Yeah, I understand what happened in

517
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:50,000
Speaker 1: the bubble, and it was either the bubble and maybe

518
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,840
Speaker 1: the messages and from Doc Rivers needed to change. Doc's

519
00:26:52,880 --> 00:26:55,719
Speaker 1: a great coach. You know, he's coaching the Sixers who

520
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:57,840
Speaker 1: are in first place in the East. So it's not

521
00:26:57,880 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: a slight to say, you know, Doc was a great coach,

522
00:27:00,680 --> 00:27:04,440
Speaker 1: but sometimes it's time for a change. Uh. The Clippers

523
00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,480
Speaker 1: still they need a point guard. I still think they're

524
00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,080
Speaker 1: one half piece away. They don't even need like, you know,

525
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,600
Speaker 1: something crazy, but I think they're right there. The Sons

526
00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:16,119
Speaker 1: have been one of the hottest teams. Again, I'm not

527
00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:19,520
Speaker 1: sold that they're you know, on part I'll always say

528
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 1: Damian Lillard is is somebody who can can kill you.

529
00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 1: But realistically, like I mean, the Jazz are are to

530
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:31,639
Speaker 1: me an elite regular season team, Yes, I don't know

531
00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,720
Speaker 1: if they're an elite playoff team. So you know, Clippers Jazz.

532
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:39,520
Speaker 1: I'll give nuggets and then I'll give a shout out

533
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:42,159
Speaker 1: to the Blazers because Lillard is so much fun. But

534
00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,679
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone else is really quite on par

535
00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:47,080
Speaker 1: I was gonna push back on the Nuggets and say, boy,

536
00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:49,640
Speaker 1: they missed Jeremy Grant, but people would be like, are

537
00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:52,160
Speaker 1: you serious Jeremy Grant? Come on, jay Z wasn't even

538
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:54,520
Speaker 1: one of their best players. He's Jeremy Grants playing great

539
00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 1: in Detroit. I just I don't trust Michael Porter defensively.

540
00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,280
Speaker 1: You know, I know Yokich is a load inside. Jamal

541
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 1: Murray can you know, get very hot, very quickly. But

542
00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:06,560
Speaker 1: again on the wing, I don't. I don't see where

543
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: the talent is on this team. Well, I'll say this,

544
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,120
Speaker 1: there really well coached. They Uh, they can score. So

545
00:28:14,160 --> 00:28:16,800
Speaker 1: the offense is there and the coaching is there, and

546
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 1: I feel like they get better defensively as the series

547
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 1: go on. At least that's what we saw last last year.

548
00:28:22,880 --> 00:28:28,080
Speaker 1: So while they don't necessarily have the best individual defensive components,

549
00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,560
Speaker 1: defense in basketball is a team concept, and so, uh,

550
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:38,120
Speaker 1: you can you can stop teams to an extent. You Obviously,

551
00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: the Nuggets didn't be the Lakers, right, so you know

552
00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 1: that I'm not saying they were as good, but I

553
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 1: think that everything you're saying about them is true. You know.

554
00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: There I don't trust Porter Jr's defense either, Jamal Murray

555
00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:52,880
Speaker 1: is not a great defender. Yokich is not a great defender,

556
00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:56,120
Speaker 1: but he's got great size. But they play really well together.

557
00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,560
Speaker 1: And what they do like because you know, Jeremy Grant

558
00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,680
Speaker 1: was uh, really high level wing defender in those series,

559
00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:04,920
Speaker 1: all the series that they played. That's who's their go

560
00:29:05,040 --> 00:29:09,560
Speaker 1: to guy on the perimeter against the best offensive players.

561
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 1: So I like Denver, but yeah, I feel you. I

562
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 1: think they're better than you credit for, but I I

563
00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,480
Speaker 1: don't think they're better than the Lakers, at least, you

564
00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,960
Speaker 1: know with with a d. Alright, he's Eric Pinkus Bleacher

565
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,720
Speaker 1: Report Father. How many kids you got, Eric? Three? Now? Three? Three?

566
00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 1: Tough one? All right, man, Hey, keep up the great

567
00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 1: work and we'll hope to have you back for the playoffs.

568
00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:32,680
Speaker 1: All right, any time, Thanks for me