Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA news. Just do you lose Chris Haines,
Speaker 1: It's go time, Mark Stein, It's show time shuklaka Chris
Speaker 1: Haynes and Mark Stein. This lig uncut is underway, and
Speaker 1: then fire. This should be a good one. Let's do it.
Speaker 1: Let's make sure we have another good one, Chris Haynes,
Speaker 1: Mark Stein here with you or another edition of this
Speaker 1: League Uncut. But I gotta be honest right off the bat,
Speaker 1: mister Haynes, I'm not in the best of moods. I'm annoyed.
Speaker 1: I actually wanted to ask you a question. Am I
Speaker 1: too old to use the adjective mid? Am? I? Can
Speaker 1: I get away with that? Or am I too old?
Speaker 1: Should I not use that? My kids would say I
Speaker 1: am and they would laugh in my face. Huh. I
Speaker 1: will say this, THI. If there's anybody that could get
Speaker 1: away with it, I think it would be you. I
Speaker 1: would give you the pass. The reason I'm asking is
Speaker 1: because this is the most mid Western conference I have
Speaker 1: ever seen in my life. Now, as we're recording this,
Speaker 1: the Lakers are trying to claw their way back to
Speaker 1: five hundred for the first time since last season when
Speaker 1: they were twenty four and twenty four. They're down four
Speaker 1: to the Knicks with eight minutes and change to go.
Speaker 1: But I just keep looking at these standings. The one
Speaker 1: thing we used to be able to count on was
Speaker 1: the Denver Nuggets. Now they've lost three in a row.
Speaker 1: You look at this West, the Nuggets are the only
Speaker 1: team we're almost seventy games into this season, the Nuggets
Speaker 1: are the only team on pace to win fifty games
Speaker 1: in the West. Now Sacramento and Memphis they're on pace
Speaker 1: for forty nine point six wins, So we can we
Speaker 1: can draft them in if we really want to. But
Speaker 1: either team, either one of those teams loses their next game,
Speaker 1: they're off the fifty win pain. I mean, I just
Speaker 1: we're so used to since Michael Jordan's second retirement in Chicago,
Speaker 1: we're so used to seeing quality in the West, and
Speaker 1: it's just, you know, again, I'm if the Lakers get
Speaker 1: back to five hundred, I'm sure Laker fans are excited,
Speaker 1: and you know they've been doing with doing this lately
Speaker 1: without Lebron, so you got to give them props for that.
Speaker 1: But but I just this isn't a Laker thing. I
Speaker 1: just look at these Western Conference standings and it's just
Speaker 1: enough already, it's just so much mediocrity. It's really to me,
Speaker 1: it is a season unlike any other. Well, look, let
Speaker 1: me go to the other route a little bit. Let
Speaker 1: me go to the other route. Can we look at
Speaker 1: this and say that the Western Conference just has parody?
Speaker 1: Because I think you can make the argument that. Let
Speaker 1: me see, I'm looking at these East teams, the top
Speaker 1: six Milwaukee, Boston, Philly, Cleveland, Brooklyn, New York, and you
Speaker 1: look at the top six as a right now, Denver, Sacramento, Memphis, Phoenix, Clippers,
Speaker 1: Golden State. If I had to pick between both conferences
Speaker 1: top six, I think I'm still going with the West. Well,
Speaker 1: then I'm going to counter you and say I look
Speaker 1: at the East and I've been I've been a Denver
Speaker 1: defender all season long. And this has gotten especially heated
Speaker 1: lately because the MVP stuff has turned into a Yoki
Speaker 1: versus mb thing. And I want to apologize because I
Speaker 1: thought we did a great pot on this last week
Speaker 1: talking a lot about the Philly side of it. But
Speaker 1: even we we we didn't say it again. Yeah yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I did, see I did see a couple of people tweak,
Speaker 1: and they're right. Janis should be right there. This should
Speaker 1: be a three man race. But this MVP thing has
Speaker 1: gotten so crazy that it's like it's just become yokas
Speaker 1: versus and be. But the reason I was bringing that
Speaker 1: up is again, I have been a Denver defender all
Speaker 1: season long. But to me, the three title favorites right now,
Speaker 1: this is gonna drop on March thirteenth, this pod. They're
Speaker 1: in the East, I mean Milwaukee, Boston, or Philly. I
Speaker 1: would pick those. I would pick whoever survives that, you know,
Speaker 1: that three sided steel cage match, like whoever comes out
Speaker 1: of the East. I think obviously depending on health when
Speaker 1: the playoffs come and where we are in June, but
Speaker 1: you know you're probably gonna see one of those. The
Speaker 1: East champion is probably going to be the favorite, I think.
Speaker 1: I think the only way that's not the case is
Speaker 1: if it's Phoenix that comes out of the West and
Speaker 1: by then they're absolutely rolling with Durant, Yeah they're rolling,
Speaker 1: and possibly the Lakers if the Lakers get up out
Speaker 1: the West and they're rolling, potentially rolling with Lebron James.
Speaker 1: But no, if you if you limited to just the
Speaker 1: top three in each conference. No, it's the Eastern Conference
Speaker 1: head over heels above the Western Conference where you mentioned Milwaukee,
Speaker 1: Boston and Philadelphia like there, there's no that that top
Speaker 1: three right there that they're they're pretty much carrying the conference.
Speaker 1: Then Cleveland Cavaliers there right there under there. But no,
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I think with the Western conver let
Speaker 1: me come to the defense for the Western Conference. I
Speaker 1: think it's just a lot of parody. These are really
Speaker 1: good teams. They're stacked up against each other, that beating
Speaker 1: up one another, and it's going to be you know, Denver,
Speaker 1: I you know, I don't I don't see Denver, you know,
Speaker 1: losing the grip on that number one seed. But everybody
Speaker 1: else's it's pretty much right there. And it's going to
Speaker 1: be good basketball. And I think it's gonna be compelling
Speaker 1: to see how the the alignment shakes shakes up. I
Speaker 1: think we you say, you look at who's in the
Speaker 1: play in field on the Western Conference, Minnesota to Dallas
Speaker 1: Lakers in Utah as a right now, h and and
Speaker 1: you know, really Utah at the tenth spot they're tied
Speaker 1: with New Orleans and OKC. I mean we just don't
Speaker 1: know where this is going to play, how this is
Speaker 1: going to play out in Portland right there, there are
Speaker 1: two games behind the final playoff markers. So I like it.
Speaker 1: I like it. I think it's periody. I still think
Speaker 1: it's good teams the West has. The West has about
Speaker 1: three teams that you talk about Phoenix, Clippers. No, probably
Speaker 1: four teams because they're you know, they're all these teams Memphis, Phoenix,
Speaker 1: and Golden State and the Lakers. Those are four teams
Speaker 1: right there, and then you can probably throw in Minnesota.
Speaker 1: Five teams that are waiting for guys to get healthy.
Speaker 1: They're waiting to get hold so you just really don't
Speaker 1: know what you have right now. Those are five teams
Speaker 1: right there that could easily be in the top four
Speaker 1: if they're healthy, but they're waiting for guys. They're playing
Speaker 1: that waiting game. So that I know that's a frustration,
Speaker 1: frustrated feeling for those teams, But it's the NBA, so
Speaker 1: always played these games, and injuries are a part of it,
Speaker 1: for sure. I guess it's for me if if more
Speaker 1: of these teams were trending in the right direction, I
Speaker 1: guess I could accept the parody thing. Because that's been
Speaker 1: the word all season long. Parody. This is incredible parody.
Speaker 1: And it's not just you who said it. I mean
Speaker 1: literally all season long, that has been an NBA buzzword.
Speaker 1: But the Sacramento Kings undeniable Cinderella season. But underneath Sacramento,
Speaker 1: Memphis is absolutely soaked in chaos right now because not
Speaker 1: just the jaw situation, but they don't have Steven Adams.
Speaker 1: They've already lost Clark for this season. The Suns don't
Speaker 1: even know if they're gonna see Durant. Before the start
Speaker 1: of the playoffs, the Clippers were rolling before they brought
Speaker 1: Russell Westbrook in and it is not. They have bounced
Speaker 1: back a little bit here lately with a few wins,
Speaker 1: but clearly the Clippers are still almost seventy games in
Speaker 1: the season, still trying to find themselves. The Warriors, who's
Speaker 1: calling card on all these playoff runs? Four championships in
Speaker 1: eight years. The Warriors calling card was that they always
Speaker 1: won at least one road game. And I think it's
Speaker 1: twenty seven or twenty eight consecutive series. It's whatever it is,
Speaker 1: twenty seven or twenty eight, it's an NBA record. This season,
Speaker 1: they cannot win a road game, no matter what they try,
Speaker 1: no matter what they do, no matter who's in uniform.
Speaker 1: The Warriors seven and twenty six on the road. Minnesota,
Speaker 1: no Towns, a five hundred season. They were supposed to
Speaker 1: be great in the regular season. The Dallas Mavericks, the
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving trade to this point has not worked out. Monday,
Speaker 1: Luca Dontech will miss his second consecutive game due to injury.
Speaker 1: Kyrie Irving is questionable. Wouldn't surprise me if Kyrie isn't
Speaker 1: able to play the sense I'm getting, I don't think
Speaker 1: the Mavericks fear that it's a long term issue that
Speaker 1: I don't think they see it as a potential long
Speaker 1: term issue with Kyrie. But is he gonna be able
Speaker 1: to play Monday night? I'm not so sure about that.
Speaker 1: The Lakers have certainly picked things up here even without Lebron.
Speaker 1: Props to them. No Zion in New Orleans. I mean,
Speaker 1: I could just go on and on and on, and
Speaker 1: it's uh, yeah, I forgot about New Orleans, you know.
Speaker 1: And look Portland. I mean, Dame is having the season
Speaker 1: of his life and nothing, you know, it seems like
Speaker 1: he's getting less help than he ever has and he's
Speaker 1: he's having a turn back the clock season. It's just one,
Speaker 1: you know one. You know, Utah and Oklahoma City have
Speaker 1: been inspiring, nice, very nice stories. Utah season is still
Speaker 1: absolutely incredible that there's still a five hundred team after
Speaker 1: all the talent that they've traded away. But man, to me,
Speaker 1: if you're not talking about Sacramento right now, it's hard
Speaker 1: to find an uplifting story in the West. The Keys
Speaker 1: and I had the will urge or encouraged people, please
Speaker 1: go check out the story I did on the Sacramento Kings.
Speaker 1: I published it Friday morning for Bleacher Reports, so please
Speaker 1: go check that out. But you know, I got candidate
Speaker 1: quotes from Mike Brown, got Mike Brown to call and
Speaker 1: give me a call, got Deer and Fox to give
Speaker 1: me a call, and I got some real candidate quotes
Speaker 1: on just what led to the Sacramental Kings all of
Speaker 1: a sudden becoming the NBA's I'm calling it the NBA's
Speaker 1: new Cinderella team. It used to be the Memphis Grizzlies.
Speaker 1: The Sacramento Kings have taken on that mantle as it
Speaker 1: right now. They're a fun team. The high you know,
Speaker 1: they lead the league point score per game. They play
Speaker 1: a great game. This is Mike Brown just reinventing himself.
Speaker 1: He's known as a defensive coach. Now he's leading the
Speaker 1: ball club that just has one of the most exciting
Speaker 1: offenses in the league. And so it's pretty fun to watch.
Speaker 1: But I take you behind the scenes on you know,
Speaker 1: the culture Mike Brown has implemented. And he told he talked,
Speaker 1: He told me about how he had to who had
Speaker 1: to attack the culture. It wasn't about trading players trying
Speaker 1: to get yeah, it was there was no culture. And
Speaker 1: I would say, you know, there's just there's always there's
Speaker 1: been a bad stigma over the last sixteen years with
Speaker 1: the Keys as far as being a team that is
Speaker 1: UM just always a revolving door of coaches, front office,
Speaker 1: and you know they begin, you know, conjuring a reputation
Speaker 1: of a team that players try to avoid, agents try
Speaker 1: to avoid sending their players there. And you know, it's
Speaker 1: it's been bad. It's been really bad. And and Mike
Speaker 1: Brown told me about a dinner meeting he had with
Speaker 1: his team the night before training camp, open about how
Speaker 1: he UM brought into play accountability contracts, basically assigning roles
Speaker 1: to every everybody and given players their roles in front
Speaker 1: of it everybody else. And so he said, you didn't
Speaker 1: have to sign that contract, he said, but if you
Speaker 1: signed it, you're making an oath to your teammates, to
Speaker 1: the coaching staff that you will try to do play
Speaker 1: this role to the best of your ability, and you
Speaker 1: won't cause any problems because if you do, that's when
Speaker 1: your teammates are going to get on you because they're
Speaker 1: making the same vale too, that they're going to do
Speaker 1: their role. And what happens is what has happened is
Speaker 1: it has created accountability within the locker room now where
Speaker 1: guys can say things. So if a player is stepping
Speaker 1: out of bounced, you know, stepping outside of his lane,
Speaker 1: you know, it's opened up the door where players can
Speaker 1: go up to other players and not in a controversial
Speaker 1: manner and be like, hey, let's remember this is what
Speaker 1: we need to do. Let's stick with this. And for
Speaker 1: the most part, it's worked. It's worked. And darre and
Speaker 1: Fox talked about how he felt like he was going
Speaker 1: to be traded a few years ago and he didn't
Speaker 1: he didn't know if he would see a day where
Speaker 1: he will be sitting on a roster. You know, Sacramental
Speaker 1: Kings number two in the Western Conference standis right now, man,
Speaker 1: And so it's some really good behind the scenes stories
Speaker 1: and tales in that story. So I urge you guys
Speaker 1: to please go go check it out. Look, I agree
Speaker 1: with everything you said there because you know, as much
Speaker 1: as I like, I have been a Denver defender and
Speaker 1: a Nuggets believer, but I have not been a believer
Speaker 1: in the Sacramento team. Like I've been waiting for them
Speaker 1: to drop. I thought it would hurt them at the
Speaker 1: deadline that they were one of the few teams that
Speaker 1: didn't make a move, because I know, as much fun
Speaker 1: as Mike Brown is having with this high octane offense,
Speaker 1: the most high octane offense of his coaching career, deep down,
Speaker 1: I don't think Mike Brown has changed that much. I
Speaker 1: think he's still defense first in his heart, and I
Speaker 1: think he would have loved a Matisse Tible or a
Speaker 1: Mason Plumly for rebounding just if he could have, if
Speaker 1: he could have addressed Obviously, Mason Plumley is not like
Speaker 1: an interior stopper of a top level, but he does
Speaker 1: make a difference on the boards. Tieble obviously does have
Speaker 1: the ability to be a tremendous stopper on the perimeter.
Speaker 1: I mean, and I think there were names that we
Speaker 1: didn't here or didn't get out. I really think the
Speaker 1: Kings wanted to do something to try to upgrade defensively
Speaker 1: at the deadline, they weren't able to. And still they've
Speaker 1: now moved up basically into this tie for second. With
Speaker 1: Memphis entering Monday's play and with everything going on with
Speaker 1: the Grizzlies, you would think that Sacramento really has a
Speaker 1: chance now at the number two seed, which I'm you know,
Speaker 1: like I say it out loud, and still I still
Speaker 1: don't believe it. I mean, it's it's it's impossible in
Speaker 1: a lot of what to miss the playoffs for sixteen
Speaker 1: years in a row in the NBA, in a league
Speaker 1: that lets sixteen teams in the playoffs, and now one
Speaker 1: if you count the playing round like it is just stunning.
Speaker 1: You have to go back, where was Chris Hayes in
Speaker 1: two thousand sixs that was the last time the games
Speaker 1: went to play OUFFS. I was I was playing. I
Speaker 1: was my sophomore year junior playing at Fresno Pacific University.
Speaker 1: We get some footage of that season. I would love
Speaker 1: to see, you know what that year? That was the
Speaker 1: year I played the least, So there wouldn't be much
Speaker 1: footage of that season you could find. I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: do the stat digging, but for those who want to
Speaker 1: find the stats, I think it's on the internet somewhere.
Speaker 1: There were a bear about thirty two games that season.
Speaker 1: I think I played in ten of those games that year,
Speaker 1: and I actually hold on. I hate, I hate to
Speaker 1: go inside note, but I'm gonna do it. So when
Speaker 1: when you get a basketball scholarship, people think when you
Speaker 1: get an athletic scholarship, I should say I got a
Speaker 1: basketball scholarship. But when you get us an athletic scholarship,
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people think that scholarship takes
Speaker 1: care of you for the whole four years. No, that
Speaker 1: is a year to year contract. And so I had
Speaker 1: a full scholarship Fresdan Pacific University, full basketball scholarship, and
Speaker 1: my coach wasn't playing me. Clark she Hi. I don't
Speaker 1: know where coach she High is at now. He's still
Speaker 1: coaching somewhere. I believe he's coaching somewhere in Oklahoma, somewhere,
Speaker 1: but he didn't to my you know, to his credit,
Speaker 1: he did want me to work on my handles. I
Speaker 1: was a real athletic six two shooting guard and he
Speaker 1: wanted me to play the point guard. And he would
Speaker 1: tell me to stay after practice every day and work
Speaker 1: on my handles. And I would do it a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I didn't do it as you know, as much
Speaker 1: as I should have, because I feel like I should
Speaker 1: have been playing anyway, like you're not You're not utilizing me, right,
Speaker 1: and so I didn't work. So anyways, I ended up
Speaker 1: playing in ten of our teams thirty or two games.
Speaker 1: Then after the year, coach caused me to the office, said, hey,
Speaker 1: we want you back. We think you're a good locker
Speaker 1: room guy. We think you still have great potential to
Speaker 1: help this team, but based off of the year that
Speaker 1: you had, we only can offer you seven thousand dollars scholarship,
Speaker 1: and Fresno Pacific's tuition at that time per year was
Speaker 1: about thirty thousand. So I left. I don't know any
Speaker 1: of this is good. I left. I left. I transferred
Speaker 1: to Fresno State and just finished out my um. I
Speaker 1: just went to school, just transfer the Frendal State, finished
Speaker 1: out my degree did two two and a half years there,
Speaker 1: So you played more as a freshman. Well, my freshman
Speaker 1: sophomore year was in college. Okay, so you transferred the FRESI. Yeah,
Speaker 1: transferred the Freendsen Pacific. Yes, basketball, and so yeah, that
Speaker 1: wasn't happening. So I had to had to take out loans,
Speaker 1: and I was just doing the math and the guys
Speaker 1: he he was recruiting, like two other guys in my position.
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, he lowered my scholarship, so there's really
Speaker 1: no incentive for him to even attempt to try to
Speaker 1: play me. And he's recruiting two other players at my position.
Speaker 1: I'm like, man, I'm off for competition, don't get me wrong,
Speaker 1: but I ain't trying to put myself in debt like
Speaker 1: that with all those loans. So I left. So can
Speaker 1: we look back seventeen years later and say, did you
Speaker 1: make the right decision? Yeah? Yeah, I made the right decision. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean, shoot, look, I made the right decision. I went.
Speaker 1: You know, at some point, like I wanted to, I
Speaker 1: wanted to play professionally somewhere, and it wasn't it wasn't
Speaker 1: lining up that wasn't going to happen. You know. I
Speaker 1: just wanted to be around basketball as much as I could,
Speaker 1: and uh, that was my I had to make an
Speaker 1: adult decision right there. I had to make a real
Speaker 1: adult decision, like do I play another year? It didn't
Speaker 1: So clarksh, I thank you and no thank you at
Speaker 1: the same time. I guess I don't know, like I
Speaker 1: don't know off the praise on whatever, I don't know.
Speaker 1: But he was a cool coach. He's Uh, I ain't
Speaker 1: got number of love for him, but I haven't seen
Speaker 1: him since then. Maybe he'll listen to this, maybe we'll
Speaker 1: hear from him. He likely will, so you so then
Speaker 1: you He transferred to Fresno State and just as a
Speaker 1: finished out college as a regular student finished out. And
Speaker 1: that was so hard, Stean, that was so hard because
Speaker 1: when you were an athlete playing in college, like you
Speaker 1: have personal like athletic counselors that just like they'll pick
Speaker 1: your classes for you, they set up everything for you
Speaker 1: and tutor in everything you need. You got it at
Speaker 1: your exposal, And so it was hard going to be
Speaker 1: a regular student, especially when I know, like I probably
Speaker 1: could have walked on that Fresilo State one thing, I
Speaker 1: played against Fredom State. When you know Fredo Pacific. We
Speaker 1: played Freendom State every year, So that was a cool
Speaker 1: experience for me playing against you know, my state school.
Speaker 1: But that was a tough transition. Man. It was tough.
Speaker 1: It was. It was when I realized, man, I really
Speaker 1: gotta like be a man and be a real student
Speaker 1: and just go to class, no preferential treatment, just go.
Speaker 1: That was so hard, but I was ready. I was
Speaker 1: ready to transition into something else, and I wanted at
Speaker 1: that time, I wanted to be a pe teacher slash
Speaker 1: um basketball coach because you know, stunt. I don't know
Speaker 1: if your pe teachers were like hours growing up, but
Speaker 1: all our p P teachers did in high school was
Speaker 1: they'll introduce a sport and say we're playing this sport
Speaker 1: for four weeks, roll out a ball to you, and
Speaker 1: y'all playing that sport for forty five minutes while he
Speaker 1: said down doing whatever. And so I'm like, I can
Speaker 1: do that. I could do that. I could roll a
Speaker 1: volleyball out it, go do whatever I want to do,
Speaker 1: roll a basketball out, you know. So that's that's what
Speaker 1: I wanted to do. But that's a better story. Sty
Speaker 1: then I found out coaching I coached for a year
Speaker 1: freshman team. I don't know if you knew that I
Speaker 1: coached for a year a freshman basketball team. I think
Speaker 1: I didn't do that, but I did not know this.
Speaker 1: I did not know this Fresno Pacific story. But I
Speaker 1: will say sources have just informed me, And by sources,
Speaker 1: I mean I'm going out my sources. Producer Ryan Music
Speaker 1: has has obtained this information through something oh what five?
Speaker 1: He found out that your coach is the coach that
Speaker 1: you named. I didn't catch what was the coach's name,
Speaker 1: Clark Sehi. He remains the athletic director at Southwest Baptist
Speaker 1: University and only recently just stepped down as basketball coach.
Speaker 1: Mm okay, Clark to Ryan, I would have been more impressed,
Speaker 1: right if you would have dug up my status. Hold on,
Speaker 1: he did try. Sources say he did try. Online archive
Speaker 1: for Fresno Pacific basketball stats only goes back to twenty
Speaker 1: eleven twelve, so we cannot obtain Thank god, you cannot
Speaker 1: obtain the Chris Haynes details. Thank god, because because they
Speaker 1: used to be online, they were online for the longest
Speaker 1: and I hated it, and I'm like, damn, they were life.
Speaker 1: So I mean you're you're still ahead of ninety nine
Speaker 1: point nine percent of us who cover the league. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a it was a bad years time, bad
Speaker 1: year spears played. I mean there's not I think Chris
Speaker 1: Brussard played at his school. There's not many guys who
Speaker 1: stephen A played. Didn't Casey in Chicago? Did he played?
Speaker 1: I don't, I don't. He might have played college too,
Speaker 1: but I really don't remember. That's the air that, you know.
Speaker 1: I can't remember anything anymore. We're gonna have We're gonna
Speaker 1: have to do that. We're gonna have to We're gonna
Speaker 1: have to put together a comprehensive list of of of
Speaker 1: scribes who actually played college ball, because I've got a
Speaker 1: few out there I don't remember. You should be proud, man,
Speaker 1: I mean, you you played two years. You were good
Speaker 1: enough as you were good enough JC player to get
Speaker 1: a college scholarship. Man, that's I would take it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was big. I still actually have the copy of
Speaker 1: my scholarship signing it. I have it frame somewhere. That
Speaker 1: was because I got cut my first three years in
Speaker 1: high school. I got cut my first three years in
Speaker 1: high school. I didn't start playing. I didn't start trying
Speaker 1: to play basketball to my freshman year, and then um,
Speaker 1: I got cut my first three years in high school.
Speaker 1: And I just kept getting better. I got taller, I
Speaker 1: got more athletic. Then it ends up working out, and
Speaker 1: I think I'm like one of I went to Edison
Speaker 1: High School in Fresno. We had a pretty really deep,
Speaker 1: talented squad. I want to say, I'm pressure on. You
Speaker 1: know who else went to Edison High? If my Now,
Speaker 1: if this I should remember my my former college classmate,
Speaker 1: Bruce Bowen went to right, Bruce Bowen, that's right, he
Speaker 1: didn't went to cal State Fullerton. That's right, Bruce Bowe
Speaker 1: and Edison High. He's up there. We got we got his.
Speaker 1: His name is in the Raptors for the points he scored. Yes,
Speaker 1: Bruce Bowen used to score points. Yes, he used to
Speaker 1: give buckets, for sure. But Edison High. I think I'm
Speaker 1: one of three in my class to get a basketball scholarship.
Speaker 1: Bryan Music is I admired tonight? He is? He is unearthed.
Speaker 1: Kasey Johnson, Chicago's own Day. Johnson indeed played Division three
Speaker 1: at PLOYD. If I'm there, you go, there you go well,
Speaker 1: let's let's bring this back to your hometown, Kings, since uh,
Speaker 1: we're trying to give love to somebody in the West.
Speaker 1: They're excited out here, man, this fan base, they are
Speaker 1: really excited. Man, you know I live out Yeah, I
Speaker 1: live out here right now, and man it's crazy. So
Speaker 1: one thing I left out, you know, Mike, and talking
Speaker 1: with Mike Brown, he said, there are a lot of
Speaker 1: people coming up to him Stein telling him how the
Speaker 1: Kings need to build a st at you of this
Speaker 1: year's team and put them out there in front of
Speaker 1: go to one Center, build a statue of this year's
Speaker 1: team and like that shows you just how out the
Speaker 1: Kings that being right now where where that is statue worthy?
Speaker 1: You know what, I remember the last time you and
Speaker 1: I were in the same place. But I really need
Speaker 1: we need to we need to meet up in Sacramento,
Speaker 1: like we should. We should go to a King's playoff
Speaker 1: game because it's I'm sure it is going to be insane.
Speaker 1: Like you're saying, they always having. You know, the crowds
Speaker 1: they used to have at our coo were always known
Speaker 1: as the best. And I covered so many playoff games there,
Speaker 1: you know, the MAVs and the Kings hooked up multiple times. Obviously,
Speaker 1: the Lakers and the Kings playing one of the most
Speaker 1: memorable Western Conference Finals ever. And I'm sure Sacramento fans
Speaker 1: don't really want to go too deep down that that
Speaker 1: that memory lane, um, but yeah, I am sure that
Speaker 1: they are going to be the best six man in
Speaker 1: the playoffs with the kind of noise that they're going
Speaker 1: to generate, just the the the thirst and hunger to
Speaker 1: have playoff basketball. I mean, it's seriously two thousand and six.
Speaker 1: It's just it's unbelievable. And I went to so my
Speaker 1: my junior college career started at Sack City College, oh
Speaker 1: one o two season, So I was I was in
Speaker 1: Sacramento when um, you know, when they were going through
Speaker 1: their run, well and and not just their run, you know,
Speaker 1: that's when the Sacramento Monarchs will popping. You had your
Speaker 1: lit the Griffith to chapinna Chio. Man, they the Kings
Speaker 1: like Sacramento had they It was some fun days back
Speaker 1: in those days. And so to think like we haven't
Speaker 1: had I'm saying we're talking about the city. To think
Speaker 1: the city hasn't had, you know, great basketball days like
Speaker 1: that since then, that is a very long time man.
Speaker 1: And my neighbors. I talked about my neighbors all the time. Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, they they're really taught poker, the ones who
Speaker 1: taught me poker for a little bit. But also we
Speaker 1: also play every Sunday in the street out in my
Speaker 1: neighborhood play basketball. So you know, I bust their ass,
Speaker 1: you know, once a week, and so you know they're
Speaker 1: really they're really excited. A few of them are season
Speaker 1: ticket holders. And it's going to we gotta do that, Stu,
Speaker 1: we got you gotta come down. We gotta go to
Speaker 1: a team I need to. We gotta meet in Sacramento
Speaker 1: and go to a King's playoff game. And not just that,
Speaker 1: not just that, we gotta do a live pod. We
Speaker 1: don't want to talk to that's that's that's a secret.
Speaker 1: Let's we don't want to reveal all that that That's okay,
Speaker 1: that's that's gonna be. That's gonna be a special occasion
Speaker 1: when that. I'll shut up. I'll shut up. I mean,
Speaker 1: I just want to keep it. I guess that's for
Speaker 1: you guys. I just want to make it special. Um,
Speaker 1: I'll shut up. On another note, Stun real quick you
Speaker 1: because you asked me. He was like man Dame sitting out.
Speaker 1: They sat dame out. He was probable to play, and
Speaker 1: then he didn't, and then and he went from probable
Speaker 1: to out tonight again scorting this on Sunday, and the
Speaker 1: Blazers were in New Orleans. In the New Orleans so
Speaker 1: I spoke with him tonight, which is tonight, Sunday night,
Speaker 1: and um, he said it's his calf tightened up. But
Speaker 1: he was urged to to sit tonight, which is Sunday night.
Speaker 1: He was urged too. He would have he would have
Speaker 1: gave it a go if it was fully up to him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but he expects to he expects to be in a
Speaker 1: line up Tuesday, when day Tuesday they'll be at home
Speaker 1: facing the Knicks. And yeah, you know, like again back
Speaker 1: back to the King's real. Like, I guess I'm still
Speaker 1: disrespect them because like whoever they let's say they stay
Speaker 1: number two, don't play. You know, whoever they get seventh.
Speaker 1: I bet whoever they play, it's going to be favored.
Speaker 1: You know, they get Yevs or the or the Wolves,
Speaker 1: you know, whoever comes out of the play in I like,
Speaker 1: I like the Kings over the Wolves. Right now, I
Speaker 1: think that's the only team you're looking at those bottom.
Speaker 1: You see, you got the Timberwls of seven, you got
Speaker 1: let say eight Lakers at nine. I think the Wolves
Speaker 1: are the only team with at those at the bottom
Speaker 1: right there that will probably be uh the underdogs that
Speaker 1: as the MAVs are defensively, I don't think Sacramento is
Speaker 1: gonna be too sad to see Dallas. If Dallas is
Speaker 1: the seventh seed in Sacramentos too, I do not think that.
Speaker 1: I do not think even though you're dealing with Luca
Speaker 1: and Kyrie, I don't think the Kings, the way they
Speaker 1: score the ball, are going to be too sad about
Speaker 1: that matchup. Dearon Fox told me that the only thing
Speaker 1: missing is consistent defensive stops and that has been that
Speaker 1: has been a promise, I mean, excuse me, that has
Speaker 1: been a problem all season long. And they said, he
Speaker 1: said that their offense is what's been winning them games.
Speaker 1: But they know if they're going to take that next level,
Speaker 1: they got to get better defensively. So that goes to
Speaker 1: your point Stein, where you said at the trade deadline
Speaker 1: you thought they should have made a move for a
Speaker 1: more defensive oriented guy, and so you know, that might
Speaker 1: be what prevents them. We'll see, because they're they're scoring
Speaker 1: like crazy, But we also know a lot of times
Speaker 1: that regular season offense sometimes doesn't translate to postseason offense,
Speaker 1: especially when you plan a lot of guys who don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of experience in the playoffs. Yes, I
Speaker 1: think every West matchup is going to be pretty compelling
Speaker 1: because it's so jam packed all the way through the standings.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Sacramento. A lot of curiosity for Sacramento what
Speaker 1: they can actually do back on this stage because they
Speaker 1: just had no playoff experience whatsoever. But you know, we've
Speaker 1: said it before, got to say it again. I mean
Speaker 1: the I was so I hated the Haliburton trade for
Speaker 1: them at first, and it's just been it's been a
Speaker 1: trade that worked for both teams. Haliburton is a fantastic pacer,
Speaker 1: Sabonis is a fantastic King. Sabonus and Fox are a
Speaker 1: wonderful duo. And props to the Kings. They've they've really
Speaker 1: been just a much needed good story in the weirdest
Speaker 1: West I can remember maybe ever. And give props to
Speaker 1: the owner the Vet, even though the Vet, you know,
Speaker 1: I was at All Star Week every All Star weekend.
Speaker 1: Stein Thevet has a brunch during All Star weekend, and
Speaker 1: so I go attend, go say what's up to everybody?
Speaker 1: You know, you'll have shot come to it. You'll have
Speaker 1: Charles Barkley, you have Rich Paul, You'll have you know
Speaker 1: other owners. It's it's you know, the vext thing is,
Speaker 1: it's top notch. And so he always sends me an invite.
Speaker 1: And so we're talking at the brunch and Vec just
Speaker 1: looking at me as we're talking. I'm like, what's going on?
Speaker 1: He said, I just been trying to figure out how
Speaker 1: did you just shoot up so high? Like it's so
Speaker 1: little time? Like what you made that? He said, I've
Speaker 1: just been wording how did you shoot up? Just shoot
Speaker 1: up so high? So what is that? You know, we
Speaker 1: always take a little shots to each other, So you know,
Speaker 1: that's my guy. But you know it's funny, you know,
Speaker 1: making a joke. I wish I could tell this other
Speaker 1: joke he made to a very prominent individual that was there.
Speaker 1: I wish I could tell that joke. But that would
Speaker 1: be much more fun you because I actually I'm in
Speaker 1: the same position. We're probably just pissing people off by
Speaker 1: saying this but I feel like I can't reveal names
Speaker 1: yet because I haven't reported this. If it had I
Speaker 1: reported this first, I would have done I would reveal
Speaker 1: the names. But you know you mentioned early on about
Speaker 1: how Sacramento is one of those places that agents don't
Speaker 1: want their guys going. I will just say that in
Speaker 1: the last ten to twelve months, there was at least
Speaker 1: one trade that I would say would have been quite
Speaker 1: prominent and it was very close to happening, and the agent,
Speaker 1: one of the agents involved, blocked the deal because he
Speaker 1: did not want his player going to Sacramento and successfully
Speaker 1: gotten the way of the deal. So when I can
Speaker 1: say names and teams, I will, But it just kind
Speaker 1: of speaks to your point that, yeah, I mean Sacramento,
Speaker 1: that's the kind of rough reputation they've had, and uh,
Speaker 1: you know they're they're emphatically moving away from it. Amazing
Speaker 1: season for sure. I want to make sure we get
Speaker 1: the Kings. That's good because they definitely deserve it. Fun team,
Speaker 1: no drama, fun team. Mike Brown. Mike Brown. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, Tims has a case and you know, maybe
Speaker 1: we can name I think Mike Brown should be unanimous.
Speaker 1: He should be unanimous. I don't know if he'll be unanimous,
Speaker 1: but he's gonna win Coach of the Year, like he
Speaker 1: should be the player six man most improved. Those ones
Speaker 1: are tough, but I think Coach of the Year and
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year we can say right now it's
Speaker 1: going to be Mike Brown and Bank Carol. I think
Speaker 1: those are pretty safe bets and both should be unanimous both.
Speaker 1: I want to start, I want to end before we
Speaker 1: take off. So the floor is yours. Man. I've been
Speaker 1: you know you you've known this man. I've been struggling
Speaker 1: for a few weeks with this um. This all started
Speaker 1: Sunday night, All Star Weekend, All Star Game was, you know,
Speaker 1: we had the All Star Game. So I'm in Salt
Speaker 1: Lake City. I'm in the bed. Two in the morning.
Speaker 1: I get a call from one of my good friends
Speaker 1: at two in the morning that one of my best friends,
Speaker 1: best friends to both of us, his name is Felix Hawkins,
Speaker 1: and he was killed that night. And what makes it,
Speaker 1: you know, that's a tragedy in itself, and I've been
Speaker 1: dealing with that. This is a guy who I've been
Speaker 1: close with since high school. We met in high school.
Speaker 1: He's been in all my major events, graduations, basketball games,
Speaker 1: big birthday events. That's my guy. His mother. His mother
Speaker 1: was the owner of a funeral home in Fresno called
Speaker 1: the Sterling Funeral Home, one of the biggest funeral homes
Speaker 1: in Fresno at the time, and that's where I got
Speaker 1: my my first job at fourteen years old, working for
Speaker 1: his mother. You know, we've that's that's my good friend.
Speaker 1: But it's a track. It was a tragic situation and
Speaker 1: it was made even more tragic because it was a
Speaker 1: double homicide and somebody else lost their life as well,
Speaker 1: and so it's been tough with me trying to deal
Speaker 1: with that. UM. I recently his funeral was yesterday Saturday
Speaker 1: in Fresno, so I had to go back to that
Speaker 1: and UM go to funeral. His mother asked me to
Speaker 1: read the obituary during the funeral. Stein. That was the
Speaker 1: toughest thing I ever had to do. Read my best
Speaker 1: friend's obituary while he's laying on the side of me
Speaker 1: in the casket. Man, that was tough. That you don't
Speaker 1: you can't, you don't prepare. I'm forty one and you
Speaker 1: just don't prepare to do anything like that at that
Speaker 1: age and you know, there's been a lot of drama
Speaker 1: going on in my city and my town over this case,
Speaker 1: the situation or whatever, and you know, it was it
Speaker 1: was a scary time. It still remains to be a
Speaker 1: scary time. But I want to give my condolecence to
Speaker 1: the other family as well. You know, this was an
Speaker 1: act that was uncalled for. It shouldn't have happened, and
Speaker 1: I just, you know, my heart goes out to them.
Speaker 1: Man definitely goes out to them. But it's been tough STI.
Speaker 1: It's been tough because as you know, you know, we
Speaker 1: all go through stuffing, you know, go through things, and
Speaker 1: life just always goes on, doesn't stop for anybody. This
Speaker 1: league doesn't stop for anybody. And so that's something I've
Speaker 1: been holding in for a couple of weeks. And I
Speaker 1: could really address it because it's it's so complicated, it's
Speaker 1: so many layers to it, and it's so dangerous, and
Speaker 1: you know, I just want closure. I had to I
Speaker 1: had to funeral yesterday. I was able to say a
Speaker 1: few words to him and his mom, and you know,
Speaker 1: now this is the first time I'm speaking about it publicly,
Speaker 1: and you know, so for me, this is therapeutic and
Speaker 1: I wanted to say something now and and try to
Speaker 1: get some closure to it. Man, Felix, I love you brother.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna miss you, and you know you wouldn't You
Speaker 1: were not perfect at all. But I loved you, man,
Speaker 1: loved you your family and you know I'm a miss you. Man.
Speaker 1: So rest in peace, fix and rest in peace. Can't
Speaker 1: imagine what that was like to have to do that. Um,
Speaker 1: condolences all around. And I feel for you, man, I
Speaker 1: know how much you loved him. It's it's it's awful,
Speaker 1: and I mean, I guess it is. I think I'm
Speaker 1: I mean, I am at least that you feel comfortable
Speaker 1: to discuss this here. You know, we're honored for that. Man.
Speaker 1: Manh Yeah, it's time. Like I said, it's therapeutic. But
Speaker 1: once again, man, give my conduces to A Kiley. That's
Speaker 1: the other brother that was involved in this, in this tragedy. Man.
Speaker 1: So it's tough, but sorry everybody to you know, kind
Speaker 1: of ended on that note, but I wanted to get
Speaker 1: that out. Yeah, we've had we've had a lot of
Speaker 1: sadness here on the show and lately, but I do
Speaker 1: think it's better that we do talk about it rather
Speaker 1: than not talk about it. So you know I feel
Speaker 1: the same, but you always should be You should always
Speaker 1: feel free to say whatever you want to say on here,
Speaker 1: So everybody, thanks Emil for listening to another edition of
Speaker 1: This League Uncut. Chris and I will record another episode
Speaker 1: in a few days. We'll have that out to you soon.
Speaker 1: Thanks Amil for being with us, and we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: again and that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 1: This League Uncut is an iHeart Radio production.