Speaker 1: Welcome to this week uncut in the world of NA News.
Speaker 1: Chris Hans works time. It's some time. This Lincoln Cut
Speaker 1: is underway, on fire. This should be a good one.
Speaker 1: You are correct, Tim kits Ro, Voice of NBA JAM
Speaker 1: and voice of this league. Uncut. This is gonna be
Speaker 1: a good one. It's gonna be a great one. This
Speaker 1: is Part two of our conversation with Draymond Green. Chris
Speaker 1: and I spoke to him for about an hour over
Speaker 1: the weekend. We decided to break this thing up into
Speaker 1: two parts because he went so in depth with us
Speaker 1: on so many different subjects. In Part one, we talked
Speaker 1: about defense, and we specifically got into the game against
Speaker 1: the New Orleans Pelicans that Draymond himself said he felt
Speaker 1: like really turned around Golden States season, his approach to
Speaker 1: the game, the state of the Warriors. D We talked
Speaker 1: about all these things. In Part two, though, he goes
Speaker 1: really in depth on the Jordan Pool situation in training camp.
Speaker 1: He talks about his future with the Warriors. He talks
Speaker 1: about what this Western Conference looks like, who's the favorite
Speaker 1: after such a wide open and tumultuous regular season. Draymond
Speaker 1: Green unplugged on this League uncut. Here's part two with
Speaker 1: Chris and I. So I wanted to read you this
Speaker 1: from January. This was this was on your own podcast,
Speaker 1: The Draymond Green Show, which is of course on the volume,
Speaker 1: and and it's being nominated. It's being nominated right for
Speaker 1: the war He mentioned, Yes, I've been nominated for a
Speaker 1: Webby award, like I think the Best Sports Podcast or
Speaker 1: something like that, which, like we said at the top,
Speaker 1: we need you on our show more than you need us.
Speaker 1: But in January you had our friend Jamal Crawford on
Speaker 1: and you guys ended up talking about what happened with
Speaker 1: Jordan Poole and training camp, and your quote was, I
Speaker 1: think a lot of our shortcomings this year is my fault.
Speaker 1: Why is it my fault? I have not been the
Speaker 1: leader that I am and that I need to be
Speaker 1: for this team. The reason I have not been that
Speaker 1: leader is also my fault. Right. We all know what
Speaker 1: happened with your young Wolverine brother JP. So for me,
Speaker 1: I've kind of had to walk a fine line of
Speaker 1: not really being Draymond. And when I'm not really being myself,
Speaker 1: that's not the best thing for this team. Three months later,
Speaker 1: how close to the full Draymond, are you in terms
Speaker 1: of leadership? I think I've been a lot better since then,
Speaker 1: And just you know, Stanny, I had to get to
Speaker 1: the point of where to really get back to just
Speaker 1: being me and myself. And what that meant is you
Speaker 1: can't really care about feelings. You know, there's no space
Speaker 1: in this game for winner. If you're winners for feelings,
Speaker 1: feelings will get hurt often if you're trying to win,
Speaker 1: because winning and feelings don't live in the same place.
Speaker 1: They live in two totally different spaces, and oftentimes what
Speaker 1: you do is you try to cater to both, and
Speaker 1: those that cater to both you end up stuck in
Speaker 1: the middle. Well, what's the middle of the middle is
Speaker 1: five hundred? The middle is not quite good enough, not
Speaker 1: quite bad enough. That's the middle. Well guess what. That's
Speaker 1: where we've been all year until as of late, stuck
Speaker 1: right in the middle. And so I just had to
Speaker 1: get to a point to where I said, listen, I
Speaker 1: can't sit here and worry about feelings. I've never worried
Speaker 1: about feelings. Well, all of a sudden, am I so
Speaker 1: worried about feelings now? And not that it's Jordan's feelings
Speaker 1: to anyone's feelings about anything, like not just the JP incident,
Speaker 1: but anything that you could be feeling that you may
Speaker 1: have a feeling about. I really don't have time to
Speaker 1: worry about that because I can't lead and worry about
Speaker 1: how your feelings, how you may take something, how your
Speaker 1: feelings may get hurt, because guess what, and being a leader,
Speaker 1: there's actually a time where you need and have to
Speaker 1: hurt feelings, like intentionally have to hurt feelings, and it's
Speaker 1: totally necessary, and guess what, it can spark something totally
Speaker 1: different than the team. So I had to just kind
Speaker 1: of get back to that mindset of like, when have
Speaker 1: you ever worried so much about feelings that you allow
Speaker 1: that to get in the way of leading. And like
Speaker 1: I said, that's not just JP's feelings, that's that's organizationally,
Speaker 1: that's publicly because that was a big part of it,
Speaker 1: right the video never get released, that's a totally different thing,
Speaker 1: and so the public's feelings. I had to stop worrying
Speaker 1: about that as well. I think that was a bigger
Speaker 1: worry than Jordan's feelings or the organization's feelings. Is how
Speaker 1: I'm viewed in the public Man, I have a family,
Speaker 1: my wife that followed everyone, and so I think that
Speaker 1: had more of an impact on me than necessarily what's
Speaker 1: happening to organization, Because at the end of the day, man,
Speaker 1: we're going to play basketball, like and when you get
Speaker 1: between those lines, nothing else matters but going out there
Speaker 1: to play basketball, competing at the highest level. But I
Speaker 1: think for me, I'm going out there, I don't want
Speaker 1: to necessarily say something to Jordan because if I say
Speaker 1: something to Jordan he react the wrong way. Everybody in
Speaker 1: the public is going to pick it up and say, oh,
Speaker 1: he's doing this and he's doing that right. And so
Speaker 1: I was more worried about those things than I actually
Speaker 1: was what would actually happen if I did say something
Speaker 1: to Jordan, or what would actually happen on our team
Speaker 1: if I did say something to somebody else. I was
Speaker 1: more worried about everyone else picking up what happens if
Speaker 1: something did happen. Well, guess what, stuff like that happens
Speaker 1: all the time throughout the season. Teammates get into it
Speaker 1: and I know that and I've been a part of
Speaker 1: those And guess what those things build character, Those things
Speaker 1: build bonds and so and understanding that and being the
Speaker 1: leader and leading the way that I lead. I had
Speaker 1: to just accept that, you know what, I may say
Speaker 1: something to Jordan, I may say something somebody else. It
Speaker 1: may blow up at times, but guess what if it
Speaker 1: does and the public picks that up or the media
Speaker 1: wants to pick that up, AND's so be it, because
Speaker 1: I don't have the time to worry about everyone else
Speaker 1: feelings and everyone else perception of what's going on in
Speaker 1: our locker room, what's going on with us between the lines,
Speaker 1: except for doing what I have to do that I
Speaker 1: know and what it takes that I know, or excuse me,
Speaker 1: doing what I know it takes to win at the
Speaker 1: highest level. And it's like, oh, man, you know the Okay,
Speaker 1: see game in Okay, see when I got pissed at Jordan?
Speaker 1: All right, am I supposed to keep holding all of
Speaker 1: those emotions in so that no one picks it up
Speaker 1: or everybody picks it up and talk about it the
Speaker 1: next day, and who cares? And that's kind of the
Speaker 1: mindset that I had to get back to and just
Speaker 1: accepting that, and I think I've done a much better job.
Speaker 1: I couldn't have had that game against New Orleans nor
Speaker 1: could my team have followed that game against New Orleans
Speaker 1: game forty just couldn't. Like, it wasn't possible. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure they were capable of following that. I'm not sure
Speaker 1: we were capable of banding together the way we did.
Speaker 1: I'm just not sure it was possible. But in working
Speaker 1: through the things that I needed to work through, that
Speaker 1: we need to work through, I think we've gotten to
Speaker 1: that place. And lastly, and saying that, I also think
Speaker 1: it required me to take that approach initially and not
Speaker 1: just try to be Draymond Boss to the walls. Yeah,
Speaker 1: right out the gate. Now I think it sets us
Speaker 1: up for a better come playoff time, which is now joy.
Speaker 1: I'm not trying to harp on that because we didn't
Speaker 1: want to touch on that really, but you mentioned the leak.
Speaker 1: The leak took it to another level, and I think
Speaker 1: that made matters worse for everybody involved. Was that leak.
Speaker 1: Was that issue resolved as far as from your knowledge
Speaker 1: finding out who did it? Like? Was it resolved to
Speaker 1: your satisfaction? No, not at all. I was never really
Speaker 1: given a concrete I'm sure on how it came about.
Speaker 1: But anything else that gets investigated, you get to concrete things, right, like,
Speaker 1: this is why we got to our investigation. That's that,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't end until you reach a concrete place.
Speaker 1: That wasn't the case with this investigation. Could it have
Speaker 1: been the case if I pressed the issue? Probably so, right,
Speaker 1: Like we probably could have got all the way to
Speaker 1: the bottom of it if I pressed the issue, if
Speaker 1: rich Paul pressed the issue, we could have gotten all
Speaker 1: the way to the bottom of it. I'm sure. But
Speaker 1: but in hindsight or I mean even looking at it now, Hans,
Speaker 1: I didn't want to get to the bottom of it.
Speaker 1: I didn't want to chase Oh, man, who leaked this? Uh?
Speaker 1: Is there a way for me to find out, you know,
Speaker 1: where this league came from? Like if I do find out,
Speaker 1: what I'm gonna do? Like, am I going to sue someone? No? Like, say, say,
Speaker 1: a lot of people said, man, that leade came from
Speaker 1: the organization, all right, So if I find out the
Speaker 1: organization leaked it, am I going to sue the Golden
Speaker 1: State Warriors? Of course? Not like I love to Going
Speaker 1: State Warriors. I've been at the Golden State Warriors for
Speaker 1: eleven years. Like my entire knowing as a professional basketball
Speaker 1: players synonymous with the Golden State Warriors. Why am I
Speaker 1: going to run and try to sue them for that.
Speaker 1: I did it like I did it. The thing that
Speaker 1: happened I did it did get leaked. It's unfortunate, and
Speaker 1: if I'm being quite honest, it's bullshit that it got leaked,
Speaker 1: because you know, what don't get leaked, what don't get
Speaker 1: leaked is when we running through plays. What doesn't get leaked.
Speaker 1: This when we're going when what doesn't get leaked This
Speaker 1: when we're going through a team's scout and we're scouting
Speaker 1: on you know, we're putting our game playing together, or
Speaker 1: when coach gets pissed off in practice and go ape
Speaker 1: shit on all of us. That doesn't get leaked. But
Speaker 1: that thing gets leaked. It's unfortunate and it sucks. But
Speaker 1: the reality is I did it, and you got to
Speaker 1: face the music. Man, I'm not about to get so
Speaker 1: deep into trying to find out who leaked it that
Speaker 1: I'm that it almost appears as I'm not willing to
Speaker 1: face the music or something. So I did I As
Speaker 1: you know, man, I am someone who stands on everything
Speaker 1: I say. I stand on everything I do. Good battering
Speaker 1: different to be quite honest with you, it was unfortunate
Speaker 1: that it got out there. It's one of my worst
Speaker 1: moments as a pro. Like, I've never punched anyone as
Speaker 1: heated as things have gotten, as much things as I've
Speaker 1: been into. I'm not someone who just walks around punching someone.
Speaker 1: And so it's something that I had never done. It's
Speaker 1: unfortunate that it got leaked. But the reality is I
Speaker 1: let myself go to that space and I did do it.
Speaker 1: It's not like somebody altered the video and put out
Speaker 1: there and alter video. No, no, no, the video that
Speaker 1: was out there is something that I did. And regardless
Speaker 1: if it got leaked, if it was or it wasn't
Speaker 1: supposed to get leaked, I did it. And because I
Speaker 1: did it. You can approach that one or two ways.
Speaker 1: You can bullshit around and try to get to the
Speaker 1: bottom of who leaked it, or you can accept it
Speaker 1: it got leaked and you shouldn't have done it. And
Speaker 1: because you shouldn't have done it, it would have never
Speaker 1: been in a space to get leaked if you hadn't
Speaker 1: done it. So control what you can control, and don't
Speaker 1: worry about what you what you can't control. And so
Speaker 1: again answer you a question. No, we never got to
Speaker 1: the bottom of it. To be honest with you, I
Speaker 1: was given some lousy answer that you know me very well.
Speaker 1: If I really cared to get to the bottom of it,
Speaker 1: I would ate that lousy answer up. But it was
Speaker 1: just no point. It is what it is. The damage
Speaker 1: was done. So getting to the bottom of the leap
Speaker 1: like it does nothing like I heard, relationships and all
Speaker 1: of that, and so the damage is done, like move forward,
Speaker 1: correct what you can correct, and be better and learn
Speaker 1: from it. And that's kind of what I what I
Speaker 1: tried to do with the whole situation. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: that was an incredibly candid answer and reminds me of
Speaker 1: why I don't go in locker rooms very much anymore.
Speaker 1: We are allowed back in locker rooms, but after a
Speaker 1: few years off, I don't like going in there anymore.
Speaker 1: But in the years that we did go into locker
Speaker 1: rooms a lot. That's why they're all That's why there
Speaker 1: was always a crowd around yours, because we know we're
Speaker 1: gonna get we know we're gonna get that incredible detailed answer.
Speaker 1: But you said something in there. You've been a warrior
Speaker 1: for eleven years. Chris knows this. He's heard this speech
Speaker 1: a zillion times. Because I'm a basketball romantic. I would
Speaker 1: like to see Draymond Green and Stephen Curry and Clay
Speaker 1: Thompson play their whole careers together. It doesn't happen very
Speaker 1: much anymore. I don't know how realistic it is. We're
Speaker 1: in a different era, this is a different time. It
Speaker 1: is a business more than it's ever been. So, just
Speaker 1: as generally as I can ask this, what do you
Speaker 1: How likely is it that Draymond Green finished his career,
Speaker 1: his career as a warrior well number one for something
Speaker 1: you just said. I think this is the last time
Speaker 1: we'll ever see it, especially with the new CBA. I
Speaker 1: don't think the new c BA will allow you to
Speaker 1: see this again. You know, if there were things added
Speaker 1: into the CBA, like you know, you drafted all of
Speaker 1: these go you drafted Jordan Pool, you drafted this Clay Times,
Speaker 1: you drafted Steph Kerry, you drafted Kevon Loon, and you
Speaker 1: drafted Draymond Green. If there was things that was added
Speaker 1: to the CBA like it should have been, and you're
Speaker 1: not penalized with drafting, well then maybe we will see
Speaker 1: it again. That's not the case to my knowledge, and
Speaker 1: so because that's not the case, I don't think we'll
Speaker 1: ever see this again. With the penalties and the way
Speaker 1: the money is increasing, I just don't think we will
Speaker 1: as far as my situation goes. Man, I've been here
Speaker 1: eleven years. I've done everything that you can possibly do here.
Speaker 1: Why would I want to go somewhere else and try
Speaker 1: to do it again to prove to the people that
Speaker 1: say Draymond can only play on that team, he can't
Speaker 1: play anywhere else. Should I try to go prove those
Speaker 1: people wrong. I've been proving those people wrong. Those same
Speaker 1: people said I would never make it in the NBA,
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to waste my time trying to
Speaker 1: prove the same idiots wrong that I prove wrong a
Speaker 1: million times over. I would love to finish my career here.
Speaker 1: That's been my goal since maybe signing this current contract
Speaker 1: been on own. It's like it looked like a more
Speaker 1: realistic thing of me finishing here. And I also don't
Speaker 1: want to play twenty years in the NBA. I want
Speaker 1: to play fifteen years in the NBA. So I think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's very realistic that in four more years
Speaker 1: I will still be contributing at a high level, I'll
Speaker 1: still be able to give to a team and live
Speaker 1: up to the contracts that I'll be on, and so
Speaker 1: I do want to be here. As far as the
Speaker 1: probability goes, I can't necessarily give you that because it's
Speaker 1: not up to me. You know, if it's totally up
Speaker 1: to me, I can one hundred percent tell you I
Speaker 1: would finish my career here, But that's not something that's
Speaker 1: totally up to me, you know, And I do understand you.
Speaker 1: Remember when I told you, I said, I told you guys,
Speaker 1: I said, guys don't know how to play. Another one
Speaker 1: that's even more baffling than me is guys don't understand
Speaker 1: the business of basketball. I actually understand the business of basketball,
Speaker 1: and so I do understand why that's not totally my decision,
Speaker 1: and I don't have any hard feelings with that because
Speaker 1: I do understand that at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: this is a business. This is a multi billion dollar business,
Speaker 1: and it keeps moving. It doesn't matter who the characters
Speaker 1: are within it. The business has to keep moving. And
Speaker 1: so the likelihood or the probability, if it's up to me,
Speaker 1: it's one hundred percent, But I can't give you the
Speaker 1: actual likelihood, because ultimately, you know, we all want to
Speaker 1: in any job that we do, we all want to
Speaker 1: be compensated for what we bring to the table. We
Speaker 1: all want our fair market value, and so you know
Speaker 1: that end of the bargain has to be uphill, and
Speaker 1: my end of the bargain has to be uphill. I
Speaker 1: do think I am still holding the mind of the bargain.
Speaker 1: We're defending the championship. I am still playing at a
Speaker 1: high level. And I don't doubt that that Joe and
Speaker 1: Bob and our front office and ownership group will hold
Speaker 1: up their end of the bargain. They always have. I
Speaker 1: have no contrary to the reports out there and all
Speaker 1: the things, I have zero reasons to believe that they
Speaker 1: won't hold up their end of the bargain because they've
Speaker 1: never shown me that. And I think so many times
Speaker 1: we get caught up in this constant media cycle and
Speaker 1: all of the news and reports that we get caught
Speaker 1: in our feelings and we stop believing what we what's
Speaker 1: right in our face to believe. I saw on Twitter
Speaker 1: You're coming to Dallas, so I said, oh, that's good
Speaker 1: for me. I saw that as well, But like right
Speaker 1: in our face and my face and you guys face
Speaker 1: in the public face, is that the Warriors has always
Speaker 1: making sure that I was taken care of. The Warriors
Speaker 1: has always making sure that Clay Thompson was taken care of.
Speaker 1: The Warriors have always made sure that Steph Curry was
Speaker 1: taken care of, Kavin Luney was taken care of. That's
Speaker 1: what's right in our face. That's what's been right in
Speaker 1: our face. So I am not going to I am
Speaker 1: not going to essentially, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: shit on the Warriors or not believe what they've shown
Speaker 1: and not give them their credibility and what's due, which
Speaker 1: is they have taken care of the guys that they're
Speaker 1: supposed to take care of, so I have no reason
Speaker 1: to believe that they won't still do that. Joy. I
Speaker 1: have my final question. I know you got busy schedule
Speaker 1: I wanted, by the way, I'm cool if I got
Speaker 1: fifteen more minutes. If y'all got something, no problem. If not,
Speaker 1: don't let us get greedy. We will take off fifteen Drey.
Speaker 1: You gave before, you gave a team bulletin board materials,
Speaker 1: a team that's near you guys, before the season about
Speaker 1: you know you talked about and you know that you
Speaker 1: hear that. I think again, it's it's one thing about
Speaker 1: saying that publicly, I think kind of runs people the
Speaker 1: wrong way. I don't know why, but it was always
Speaker 1: known what I'm talking about was always known that you
Speaker 1: get up for certain teams and you just don't have
Speaker 1: it for other teams. But you know you made your
Speaker 1: made those believe it was on the shop when you
Speaker 1: made those comments earlier in the year saying the Kings
Speaker 1: are one of those teams where you had a hard
Speaker 1: time getting up for them, and you know they took
Speaker 1: it and ran with it, and they've had a really
Speaker 1: good year, bounced back a year and Mike Brown, to me,
Speaker 1: should be unanimous Coach of the Year over there with
Speaker 1: the King. Has the dynamic change for you now that
Speaker 1: they're been like, what what has the dynamic been like
Speaker 1: for you going to play the Kings this season? Has
Speaker 1: it felt different? Well? Quite frankly, if people go back
Speaker 1: and watch that episode, it was actually math saying who
Speaker 1: those teams weren't? I agree? But okay, my bad. But
Speaker 1: in saying that, like I said, you know me, I'm
Speaker 1: always standing on everything I say. The Kings have sucked, Like,
Speaker 1: let's just face it, um, since I've been in the NBA,
Speaker 1: they have sucked. I have not made the playoffs since
Speaker 1: I've been So it's not like some like bulletin board
Speaker 1: of disrespect. It's actually a fact. They are who we
Speaker 1: were when I came into the NBA. Yes, they're changing that.
Speaker 1: I also said on that episode. Now the Kings got
Speaker 1: Mike Brown, and I expect that to change. I also
Speaker 1: had Dear Fox on my podcast and I told Fox, Fox,
Speaker 1: this is on you, keens get to the playoffs. It's
Speaker 1: on you, my brother, like you have to. They traded
Speaker 1: Tyrese Halliburton. Dave essentially said the Aaron Fox is our
Speaker 1: point guard. Fox, you need to go out there. You
Speaker 1: need to lead this team the playoffs. There's no reason
Speaker 1: you shouldn't be an All Star, and so on and
Speaker 1: so forth. Guess what. Fox went out there and led
Speaker 1: this team to the playoffs. Fox went out there and
Speaker 1: became an All Star, and he's leading that organization in
Speaker 1: the right direction. When they trade it another all star,
Speaker 1: Tyrese Halliburton, he's doing exactly what they hoped he would do.
Speaker 1: By trading Tyrese Halliburn and so I give all credit
Speaker 1: to them. I give credit where credits do. Another team
Speaker 1: that I spoke about was the Orlando Magic. Let's face it,
Speaker 1: we get thrown in Orlando on the back to bat
Speaker 1: with Miami because Orlando has sucked. Let's just face it,
Speaker 1: like you get them coming out of two three days
Speaker 1: in Miami y because they've sucked. No one cares about
Speaker 1: the game. They are changing that Jamal Mosley is doing
Speaker 1: an incredible job, and most importantly, they have a guy
Speaker 1: that it's about winning, that loves basketball, that you can
Speaker 1: build around, and Polo ban Carol. Before anyone was ever
Speaker 1: really talking about Polo ban Carroll as the number one pick,
Speaker 1: and everybody was saying Jabari Smith and this guy and
Speaker 1: that guy who was on the podcast talking about Polo
Speaker 1: ban Caro is the guy. Now. I think the Orlando
Speaker 1: Magic why they want to take the bulletin board material
Speaker 1: about me saying they sucked. I think they also took
Speaker 1: the willetin board material from my podcast and evaluating talent
Speaker 1: because all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they drifted
Speaker 1: Polo number one out of nowhere. But come on, let's
Speaker 1: face it, he don't know man, news don't stay private
Speaker 1: in the NBA no more. Like so they're not that
Speaker 1: discreet to where they had somebody think and they was
Speaker 1: taking someone else, and then all of a sudden they
Speaker 1: take Polo ban Carl. They ain't that goddamn the street.
Speaker 1: No one is in the NBA anymore. So let's face it,
Speaker 1: they were watching, they took the kid, and they did
Speaker 1: the right thing. I give credit where credits due. I
Speaker 1: think the Orlando Magic are headed and trended in the
Speaker 1: right direction. They got Paolo fren Wagner as a player,
Speaker 1: like a real player. They got guys, They got guys
Speaker 1: that they can really build around and continue to move
Speaker 1: in the right direction. But let's let's also be real.
Speaker 1: That also takes a commitment from the organization. Has that
Speaker 1: organization really made that commitment as of late? You know,
Speaker 1: That's that's where you guys to discuss. I don't want
Speaker 1: to get fund about that, but you know, you are
Speaker 1: you going to make that commitment to keep it all together.
Speaker 1: That's what all of this stuff ultimately boils down to. It.
Speaker 1: It's never really um, you know, it's never really any
Speaker 1: shot at you know guys in particular, but you know,
Speaker 1: I'm always keeping a Hunter, and I'm not afraid of
Speaker 1: you know, bulletin board material. You can post something on
Speaker 1: your bulletin all you want. You still got a guard
Speaker 1: and win the game. I get the Memphis Grizzy a
Speaker 1: million bulletin board points all last year and we still
Speaker 1: beat them in the playoffs. So you still got to
Speaker 1: guard and like win the game. And I'm totally fine
Speaker 1: with that, and you know, it is what it is.
Speaker 1: But I give credit where credit is due. What Mike
Speaker 1: Brown has gone to Sacramento and done, it's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 1: I expect him to continue taking that that franchise upward
Speaker 1: in the right direction. And you know, I give credit.
Speaker 1: I give them their props. They're doing a great job.
Speaker 1: This has been such a weird season. I mean the
Speaker 1: West where really since Jordan retired the second time from Chicago,
Speaker 1: the West has been the power Conference. And we've had
Speaker 1: years where I remember there was a year when the Warriors,
Speaker 1: you know, this was before your time, but the Warriors
Speaker 1: won forty eight games and missed the playoffs. They were
Speaker 1: the ninth seed. And in the last twenty years we've
Speaker 1: usually seen five fifty win teams in the West. We
Speaker 1: only have two of the season just a bizarre season
Speaker 1: with this big clump of teams in the middle. But
Speaker 1: I'm asking you today, given everything that's happened this season,
Speaker 1: where you guys started where you are now, it sounds
Speaker 1: like you feel pretty good about things. But who should
Speaker 1: be favored to come out of this Western Conference? Steph
Speaker 1: Curry healthy? I think so, sources say Clay Thompson, and
Speaker 1: I saw Clay said that the other day. He said
Speaker 1: the the OC goat said that if we're healthy, nobody
Speaker 1: can beat us in a seven game series or like
Speaker 1: our chances in a seven game series. I think I
Speaker 1: can tell you personally, I'm pretty healthy. No one at
Speaker 1: this point pretty healthy. Body feels good. Looni's healthy, Jordan
Speaker 1: Poole's healthy. I think the Warrior should be the favorite because,
Speaker 1: quite frankly, you know, Steiny, Hey, you guys want to
Speaker 1: look like geniuses. Let's go all right now and say
Speaker 1: the Warrior's gonna look the Warrior's gonna win a championship,
Speaker 1: and in about two and a half months, the Warriors
Speaker 1: are going back to back. You're saying it here, can
Speaker 1: I get us thought? I'm just telling you. I told
Speaker 1: y'all last year, and you wanted to give a thought
Speaker 1: and you didn't jump on the bandwise your opportunity to
Speaker 1: look like a genius. So I'm just telling you again
Speaker 1: you know no. But honestly, though, um and all seriousness,
Speaker 1: I think I don't think there's any clear cut favorite
Speaker 1: in the Western Conference. I think, you know, we love
Speaker 1: our chances if we're healthy. Um. You know, Denver has
Speaker 1: had a great year. You see everybody saying they're not,
Speaker 1: you know, afraid to play Denver. That's neither here nor there.
Speaker 1: You know, Memphis has had a great year of Sack
Speaker 1: has had a great year. Phoenix adding KD, hasn't lost
Speaker 1: a game without KD. The Lakers are a totally different
Speaker 1: team now than they were to start the year. Clippers,
Speaker 1: will they get Paul George back? I think that matters.
Speaker 1: Russ is playing at a high level now, like everyone
Speaker 1: has grown accustomed to rush plan over the years. I
Speaker 1: think it's a lot that can happen. And if I'm
Speaker 1: you know, I never really take this stand on anything,
Speaker 1: but if I'm being honest with you, I think it's
Speaker 1: wide open. I think it is wide open as we've
Speaker 1: ever seen it before. And that's no cop out. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm always gonna be real. I'm not just gonna come
Speaker 1: on here and say the Warriors should be the favorite
Speaker 1: just because I play with the Warriors. That's not how
Speaker 1: I roll. Do I think the Warriors could win the championship?
Speaker 1: I one hundred percent. We believe we can win a championship.
Speaker 1: But guess what, the Warriors also could have missed the playoffs.
Speaker 1: That was also or possibility two days ago, you know.
Speaker 1: And so I'm always going to be honest. I do
Speaker 1: think we have a great opportunity and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: like Clay said in the seven game series, I haven't
Speaker 1: seen anyone beat us healthy in the seven game series.
Speaker 1: I said that last year. I said again, no one
Speaker 1: has proven that they can do that yet. Until someone
Speaker 1: proves that they can do that, I always believe that
Speaker 1: it's us. But in saying that, I think it is
Speaker 1: why though, well look this, I knew this was gonna
Speaker 1: be good, but it was even better than I hoped.
Speaker 1: And again to complete this lopsided trade that we absolutely
Speaker 1: robbed you. Now, so you said, your policy is you
Speaker 1: do not do interviews during the playoffs. So is your
Speaker 1: podcast changing during the playoffs. It's just just gonna be y, No,
Speaker 1: so I didn't. I didn't do interviews during the playoffs
Speaker 1: last year. I just did. I just did a bunch
Speaker 1: of podcasts. So you may shut like I did, gosh,
Speaker 1: but I really during the playoffs, I really just lock
Speaker 1: in on the games and break down games because as
Speaker 1: you guys know, man, the scheduling gets tough and for
Speaker 1: me and scheduling guests during the playoffs and trying to like, man,
Speaker 1: I don't even focus on my wife during the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and I love her so much. She's the best. My
Speaker 1: kids are incredible, Like I try to unless I'm in
Speaker 1: between series. I stayed like this on the game, and
Speaker 1: I can watch other games and I'll break those games
Speaker 1: down because I'm consumed with basketball and also watching possible opponents.
Speaker 1: But just as far as like doing interviews and stuff
Speaker 1: during the playoffs, unless we lose early, then I'll start,
Speaker 1: like doing some interviews. But if we're in it, like
Speaker 1: I'll be breaking down games and doing that whole thing.
Speaker 1: But it just trying to schedule and work around different
Speaker 1: people schedule. Like I'm all for that during the regular
Speaker 1: season and like you know, you have to continue to
Speaker 1: live your life, but during the playoff, nothing else matters,
Speaker 1: but the playoffs, and so I just don't really be
Speaker 1: wanting to hassle trying to make schedules work in different
Speaker 1: things and taking away my focus from the playoffs. It's
Speaker 1: one thing. It's one thing of me coming to this
Speaker 1: hotel room after a game, popping my laptop up, popping
Speaker 1: my light up, and shooting a podcast. Right. Um, it
Speaker 1: takes me all the twenty twenty five minutes to do that,
Speaker 1: but you start getting in the interviews and you know,
Speaker 1: it gets me out of character a little bit, and like,
Speaker 1: I just like to stay locked there, So I don't
Speaker 1: really do them during the playoffs. Well, Dre, you're on
Speaker 1: the road, You're you're important, I believe, sir. Nice nice hotel.
Speaker 1: I believe I know the hotel that is. But Dre
Speaker 1: makes sure you stay away from those small hotel soaps.
Speaker 1: I didn't get to see what Chuck said that the
Speaker 1: day I'm gonna hotel so I saw, but I saw
Speaker 1: like a headline there says why Chuck said he will
Speaker 1: never use hotel. So don't watch it. Don't watch I'm
Speaker 1: not sure why try try he said. He said he
Speaker 1: carries his own big bars of soap with him now.
Speaker 1: Because the hotel soaps are so small that he that
Speaker 1: he had an accident that it almost disappeared. Chuck say
Speaker 1: that for somebody who want to hear that. Man, No,
Speaker 1: I keep my soul with me. One thing my wife
Speaker 1: jud has done, and she makes sure I keep my
Speaker 1: soap with me when I go to hotels and not
Speaker 1: using bad soap that ain't quite great for your skin.
Speaker 1: She makes sure I keep my skincare routine with me,
Speaker 1: uh you know, and make sure I'm dialed in there.
Speaker 1: So I like to keep my soap. But Chuck man
Speaker 1: say that ship for somebody who aren't hearing Chuck. Nobody
Speaker 1: want to hear that way too much information, God Lee.
Speaker 1: Somebody says, hey, somebody says to Charles Barkley, man, this
Speaker 1: is getting like like I said in the hallway when
Speaker 1: I when I saw you, h you your podcast. You
Speaker 1: don't even need guests. You like you said, you turn
Speaker 1: on the mic, open the laptop, and you're a smash hit.
Speaker 1: But we needed we need guests on this fledgling little podcast,
Speaker 1: so we were grateful to host you today on this
Speaker 1: league uncut. And when you are ready to resume interviewing,
Speaker 1: Haines and I will be there too. After eleven years
Speaker 1: of throwing questions at you, you get to fire all
Speaker 1: the questions at us. I'm looking forward to that, fellas,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. I'm looking forward to just having
Speaker 1: that conversation because I think so oftentimes it gets lost.
Speaker 1: Like I said at the start of this, when I
Speaker 1: speak new media and old media, there's a space for
Speaker 1: both their audience for both. And quite frankly, we all
Speaker 1: live in the same bubble. And you know, I always
Speaker 1: speak about how like man like this game works and
Speaker 1: fees all of our families, you know, and at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, you know, I know oftentimes things
Speaker 1: are so separate, but we're all one group putting together
Speaker 1: a product that ultimately is sold to the masses, and
Speaker 1: it's created a wonderful life for all of us. And
Speaker 1: so I don't take that for granted. I never look
Speaker 1: at it like it's any hard feelings at time. Doesn't
Speaker 1: get emotional, of course, but what doesn't get emotional when
Speaker 1: it matters. I think anything that matters gets emotional, And
Speaker 1: so you know, it's never really any hard feelings. You
Speaker 1: do get heated, and things are will always get heated,
Speaker 1: but ultimately it's one big team, NBA, NBA reporters, NBA players,
Speaker 1: NBA staff, NBA media. It's all one big team ultimately
Speaker 1: putting together the best product in the world to be sold.
Speaker 1: And I'm very thankful and appreciative of that. I'm appreciative
Speaker 1: if you brothers and all that you are bringing to
Speaker 1: the game and the diligence that you do and doing
Speaker 1: your work, because it doesn't go unnotice our game honestly,
Speaker 1: like I can do as much as as many podcasts
Speaker 1: as I want, um, Ultimately, it is not building the
Speaker 1: game the way you guys build the game. I'm not
Speaker 1: doing it every day, right, I'm not breaking down things
Speaker 1: and keeping up on all of the current things that
Speaker 1: you guys are, And so I don't take that for granted,
Speaker 1: and I'm looking forward to grilling the hell out of
Speaker 1: y'all soon. And you're not spying. You're not spying for
Speaker 1: the Calves either, I'm not. Hayes is definitely spine. One day,
Speaker 1: I was a drink and he's going to admit it
Speaker 1: to me. He was texting. He was he was texting
Speaker 1: Lebron notes after Warrior's practicing. I appreciate y'all appreciate good
Speaker 1: luck in the playoffs. Man. Thanks to ILL for doing this, absolutely,
Speaker 1: thank you. I see both of y'all soul and that'll
Speaker 1: do it for us. See you next time. This League
Speaker 1: Uncut is an iHeartRadio production BUSCKA Loca Chris Haines and
Speaker 1: Mark Steyne.