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Speaker 1: This is Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. What is up

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Speaker 1: straight Fire? Fam, It's me Jason McIntyre here on Straight

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Speaker 1: Fire for Thursday, July eighth. And uh, it was kind

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Speaker 1: of a quiet night in sports, was it not. Somebody

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Speaker 1: won the Stanley Cup Finals. I don't know who it was.

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Speaker 1: I'm told it's Tampa Bay. Just kidding, ha ha ha.

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Speaker 1: Congrats to Tampa Bay on winning the Stanley Cup Finals.

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Speaker 1: We now have spent our allotment of fifteen seconds on

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Speaker 1: the Stanley Cup in Bigger Sports news. Uh. Oh, I

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Speaker 1: love this. On Wednesday, I went I opened the day

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Speaker 1: playing some tennis. Um, you guys know I entered a

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Speaker 1: tennis tournament. I'm sure you guys all follow me on

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Speaker 1: the GRAM. I mentioned that I entered a tennis tournament.

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Speaker 1: So I played a buddy. I had beat him, I

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Speaker 1: think like three times straight. Um, we're kind of even.

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Speaker 1: But I just end up coming out on top because

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Speaker 1: I played conservative. Um, and I, you know, playing to

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Speaker 1: not make mistakes. But I'm getting ready for a tournament.

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Speaker 1: So what do I do. I start taking a lot

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Speaker 1: more chances and trying to you know, paint lines and

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Speaker 1: pin in the corner. And I played a little aggressive.

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Speaker 1: I fell behind five three, storm back and we tied

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Speaker 1: six six, and then at the hour break you lose

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Speaker 1: a court. Because of course people want to play, so

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Speaker 1: I started playing tennis. Then I went with some mates

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Speaker 1: and watched England Denmark at a local pub and I

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Speaker 1: gotta say that was a phenomenal soccer match. Incredible stuff.

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say. I'm not gonna lie to you guys.

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Speaker 1: Um I have a man crush now on Raheem's Sterling,

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Speaker 1: who has been exquisite for the England national team. I mean,

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Speaker 1: what an incredible, incredible soccer player. He's so fast. He

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Speaker 1: is the biggest mismatch I've seen in the entire europe tournament.

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Speaker 1: And essentially england strategy in the second half was, oh,

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Speaker 1: let's just get the ball to Sterling and have him

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Speaker 1: go around two and three guys and make a play

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Speaker 1: and that was it. In overtime he makes a move,

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Speaker 1: there's a questionable foul uh in the box, the refloce

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Speaker 1: whistle calls for a PK. They review it and let's

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Speaker 1: be real, listen, I was rooting for England. I did

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Speaker 1: not have a financial investment in England, but I don't

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Speaker 1: know if that was a foul, um, but I'm not

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Speaker 1: gonna listen. They checked it on the v A R.

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Speaker 1: It looked like maybe kind of sort of if you

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Speaker 1: squint and look at it sideways. Listen, he got the

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Speaker 1: p K. Harry came, um the p K stop, but

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Speaker 1: that he puts it in on the rebound. England wins,

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Speaker 1: and folks, listen, this is a soccer weekend approaching. I

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Speaker 1: know the NBA Finals are in full swing. We got

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Speaker 1: game two tonight. What the damn do We'll get to

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Speaker 1: Game two with our guest, your own Whitzman. New guy

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Speaker 1: they just hired at Fox Sports. Um, I know him,

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Speaker 1: covers the NBA. Really smart writer. We'll talk to him shortly. Um.

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Speaker 1: So the NBA Finals are in full swing. But this

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Speaker 1: is a soccer weekend, folks. So Saturday night, clear off

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Speaker 1: the schedule. Argentina Brazil, name our Messy. I can't wait.

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Speaker 1: The wife had wanted to do so thing with your kids.

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Speaker 1: Unless plans as like hole up, we gotta push it

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Speaker 1: back because I gotta see this. I've got to see

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Speaker 1: Messy hopefully finally win his first COPA. And of course

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Speaker 1: Naymar is playing incredible and then Sunday three, eastern, twelve

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Speaker 1: Pacific England Italy for the Copa America title. England has

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Speaker 1: never won a Coppa American title, which is crazy. Greece

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Speaker 1: has won one. I had to look this up on

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Speaker 1: the internet and I'm fired up for the game. I

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Speaker 1: I like this England team. Man, they are just so

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Speaker 1: good all around. And as I told you, guys have

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Speaker 1: been playing a lot of FIFA uh and the Man

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Speaker 1: City is like the best team on there, and like

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Speaker 1: it feels like half the England national teams on Man City.

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Speaker 1: It's just a stacked team. It's really really Um, this

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Speaker 1: England team is awesome. My wife, of course, her distant

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Speaker 1: family is from Italy, not like her parents, um, but

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Speaker 1: their parents or their parents parents are from Italy. So

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Speaker 1: I'm rooting for Italy as well, but obviously I'm rooting

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Speaker 1: for England. So this is how good my Wednesday was.

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Speaker 1: I watched the match. Some mates come home, stretch go

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Speaker 1: play pick up basketball, and a buddy who gets a

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Speaker 1: lot of guys to come play because it's tough to

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Speaker 1: find people who are traveling. He says, hey, I got

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Speaker 1: this guy who's coming. He's six seven and he played

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Speaker 1: internationally last year was like, oh fun, you know. So

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Speaker 1: that guy comes and obviously he's not going full war,

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Speaker 1: but holy caw, he's doing that James Harden move where

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Speaker 1: you drive and then you switch hands over the guy's

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Speaker 1: head because you know you're dribbling low, the defender reaches low,

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Speaker 1: you just bring the ball over their head with like

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Speaker 1: a euro and then lay it in and it's unscalppable

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Speaker 1: when you're six seven. So one time he wanted to

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Speaker 1: guard me and he comes out and he's like sitting back,

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Speaker 1: but he's watched like when he's defending me, he's not

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Speaker 1: looking at me or my body. He's watching my hands

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Speaker 1: in the dribble, and I'm like, what is this guy

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Speaker 1: cooking up? So I quickly kicking in the post to

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Speaker 1: our post guy, I'm like, what were you doing there?

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Speaker 1: He's like, I was watching your hands. I can tell

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Speaker 1: from where your hands are going what the move was

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Speaker 1: gonna be. I was like, oh, hey, that's the next

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Speaker 1: level stuff. Um, And of course I googled this guy afterwards.

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Speaker 1: He was the leading scorer at Brown University as I

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Speaker 1: think a sophomore, and then he transferred to ucsbuh and

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Speaker 1: then he went to play internationally. I mean, this guy

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Speaker 1: is good, and of course, you know, I go follow

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Speaker 1: him on Instagram. I'm like, hey, hey, we should get

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Speaker 1: another game. You know, I like, but I like leveling

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Speaker 1: up and playing against guys who are unbelievably better than me. Anyways,

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Speaker 1: good pick up basketball run and let's just say I

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Speaker 1: had a great Wednesday. It was a lot of fun.

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Speaker 1: It's summer. Um. Today we get back to the NBA Finals,

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Speaker 1: and let's be honest, there's not a ton going on

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Speaker 1: in sports. I was texting with Rob g. I'm like, Rob,

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Speaker 1: I gotta spend some time on this England match. Can

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Speaker 1: I preview Italy? He's like, no, you cannot preview Italy England.

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Speaker 1: It's like, I'm hot on it. I got some good stuff. Sorry. Um.

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Speaker 1: He tells me there's an NFL story. I was like,

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Speaker 1: please tell me. It's not Aaron Rodgers. It's Aaron Rodgers.

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Speaker 1: So I look up this Aaron Rodgers thing and I

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Speaker 1: just basically at my wits end, like there's no news here.

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Speaker 1: It's the NFL and this is how the sausage gets made.

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Speaker 1: You guys know this, right, whether it's TV, radio, podcast,

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Speaker 1: internet play, the hits that is one of the first

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Speaker 1: things you will learn when you get into radio, TV,

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Speaker 1: any of this stuff in sports, play the hits, unsure

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Speaker 1: of what the topic. Maybe Dallas Cowboys, they're doing hard knocks.

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Speaker 1: What do you damn do Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, unhappy quarterbacks,

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Speaker 1: stars in the NBA. Play the hits. Now, it's weird

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Speaker 1: because the Yankees are no longer really a hit. The

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Speaker 1: Dodgers are not really a hit. Um, And these are, like,

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Speaker 1: you know, the top MLB franchises, Um, Stanley Cup, that's

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Speaker 1: not a hit. Um, the hits are. And it's weird

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Speaker 1: because then, yes, Jason, Okay, I get it. That's what

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Speaker 1: anybody can relate to. Anybody you know has a take

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Speaker 1: on Lebron Um, it's a little tougher to have a

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Speaker 1: take on Devin Booker. I you I prefer instead of

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Speaker 1: play the hits. You know, the mom the mom test.

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Speaker 1: You know, most guys my age of mom's now, like

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Speaker 1: late sixties seventies. Have you heard of this guy? If

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Speaker 1: I called my mom today and said, mom, Devin Booker,

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Speaker 1: does she have any clue who he is? Of course not.

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Speaker 1: I mean he's you know, he's a great NBA player,

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Speaker 1: but he's not Steph Curry or Lebron the Crossover stars.

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Speaker 1: Steph Curry's wife is hawking cookbooks, Steph Curry's going on

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Speaker 1: Ellen degenerous, Uh Lebron obviously everybody knows Lebron. Shaquille O'Neal

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Speaker 1: play the hits. That also suffices to the mom test.

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Speaker 1: The dad test also exists. But you know, you know again,

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Speaker 1: my my parents aren't from They weren't born in America,

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Speaker 1: so they didn't grow up, you know, eating and breathing

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Speaker 1: American sports away a lot. A lot of other American

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Speaker 1: parents have um so, like, my dad has been passionately

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Speaker 1: following euro We text about it every day. He's aware,

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Speaker 1: like of who the England manager is. You know he

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Speaker 1: knows the guy. I think his name Southgate because he

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Speaker 1: sends the article US from the BBC. Like does my

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Speaker 1: mom know Aaron Rodgers? And I if he? Honestly, he's

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Speaker 1: he's like a weird star. He dates quasi celebrities, but

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Speaker 1: he doesn't do a ton of interviews. He's not super interesting. Yes,

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Speaker 1: he hosted Jeopardy, Yes he's engaged to an actress, but

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Speaker 1: he's not like in a million commercials. He's doing some commercials,

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Speaker 1: but I challenge you guys to this. Next time you

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Speaker 1: text your mom, just say Aaron Rodgers and see if

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Speaker 1: she knows who he is or if she even knows,

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Speaker 1: like who he plays for what sport? My guess, I

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Speaker 1: guess if you're if your family is in the Midwest,

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Speaker 1: they probably know Aaron Rodgers. But I would guess if

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Speaker 1: you're on the coast in the South. I don't think

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Speaker 1: a lot of those people, moms in the sixties, maybe seventies,

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Speaker 1: are that aware of Aaron Rodgers. That's my guests. At

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Speaker 1: any rate, Aaron Rodgers was in a golf card and

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Speaker 1: he was asked, are you playing for the Packers next year?

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Speaker 1: I don't know? And like that's the story, and that's

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Speaker 1: probably gonna lead a lot of sports shows today because

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Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers spoke, and then everybody has to have a

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Speaker 1: take on what it means. Here's my take. What do

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Speaker 1: the Vegas lines say? Vegas Lines still have Green Bay

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Speaker 1: as a pretty good team, as a ten and a

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Speaker 1: half ten ten win team, until I see that number

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Speaker 1: plummet to seven and a half, which is about what

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Speaker 1: they'll go to maybe seven without Aaron Rodgers. Because let's

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Speaker 1: be real, guys, They're a five six team, six win

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Speaker 1: team with Jordan's love at quarterback. I don't care about

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Speaker 1: the running back, about the receiver, about the defense, which

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Speaker 1: ain't great to begin with. Aaron Rodgers is everything to

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Speaker 1: that team. And if you challenge me and said, Jay,

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Speaker 1: what quarterback has the largest impact on the point spread.

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Speaker 1: Patrick Mahomes obviously is up there, but Andy Reid has

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Speaker 1: a great system and that offense is stacked, I would

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Speaker 1: bet it's Aaron Rodgers. I think Lamar Jackson's significant, obviously

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Speaker 1: because of what he can do. Tom Brady's significant, but

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Speaker 1: it's I think my money would be on Aaron Rodgers

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Speaker 1: has the largest impact on the point spread. And so

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Speaker 1: because he opened his mouth on a golf cart and

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Speaker 1: said I don't know if I'll playing next year, that's

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Speaker 1: where we are. Frankly, I can't get worked up about

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Speaker 1: it on July eight. I just can't. It's like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: is he gonna show up at camp? He hasn't shown

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Speaker 1: up for some voluntary or involuntary workouts. That doesn't mean

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Speaker 1: a whole hell of a lot, you know, it's just

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Speaker 1: not super duper interesting. However, I did just get the

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Speaker 1: call from the bullpen I will be hosting Undisputed here

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Speaker 1: in a few weeks. I'm very excited. You guys know

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Speaker 1: I love to host Undisputed. Um, we get, we get

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Speaker 1: we can get combative on there, and there ain't gonna

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Speaker 1: be a lot of NBA talk on there. It's gonna

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Speaker 1: be all in f L. It'll be Baker, Mayfield and Rogers.

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Speaker 1: And we have good topics because the producers pour over

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Speaker 1: everything that's out there. And now you're close to the season,

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Speaker 1: so you can find the really juicy topics. Unfortunately, early

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Speaker 1: July we ain't there. And that's why we have a

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Speaker 1: guest chewing up the bulk of this podcast. So um,

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Speaker 1: let's get to our guest. His name is your Own Whitesman.

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Speaker 1: He covers the NBA. He wrote a really smart piece

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Speaker 1: a few months back for The Ringer Um that we'll

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Speaker 1: talk about in the pod. Um. He's been a freelancer

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Speaker 1: for a while. Uh. You know, you guys should follow

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Speaker 1: him on social media. He's doing stuff for Fox Sports.

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Speaker 1: Now he's gonna be covering the NBA Finals. Without further

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Speaker 1: ado here he is your own Whitesman. Jason likes to

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Speaker 1: think he knows everything when it comes to sports. I

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Speaker 1: know what sports dance want, but for everything he doesn't,

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Speaker 1: he knows a guy who does. Let's just say I

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Speaker 1: know a guy who knows a guy he knows another guy.

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Speaker 1: Let's welcome into straight fire an NBA writer to talk

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Speaker 1: about the finals. Now. He I've known him for a while.

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Speaker 1: He's been freelancing for a bunch of places, and he

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Speaker 1: just got hired at Fox Sports. So he's doing a

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Speaker 1: great bunch of stuff over at the new Fox app

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Speaker 1: and Fox Sports website. Your own Whitesman, your own How

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Speaker 1: are you men? I'm good. Thanks for having me out. Yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I definitely wanted to get you on during the finals

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Speaker 1: because there's some of the stuff you're doing a Fox.

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Speaker 1: You wrote a pretty cool piece on the Ringer. You've

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Speaker 1: written for Bleacher Report, and like, I don't know where

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Speaker 1: we're having some trouble with the finals here. Uh. You know,

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Speaker 1: we're used to Curry in Lebron and you know, true story,

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Speaker 1: If not for the janice, is he gonna play doubtful? Questionable?

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Speaker 1: He's starting, you know. If not for that, I don't

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Speaker 1: really know if the juice was there. Now, I love

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Speaker 1: the NBA, So we'll talk about the NBA for months

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Speaker 1: on end. But I'm just curious as to your interest

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Speaker 1: level in the new blood in the finals. Um, it's fun.

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Speaker 1: I would it would be nice if it came without

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Speaker 1: all the injuries for them to get there, Right, it

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Speaker 1: would be cool to see the Sun's team knock off

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Speaker 1: a completely healthy I guess Lakers are the Lakers was

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Speaker 1: a different situation they want to get Forget how many now?

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Speaker 1: That feels like three months ago, right, doesn't it? Um?

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Speaker 1: The Clippers was one really where without Kauai for the

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Speaker 1: entire series, where you're the conference finals really on both ends,

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Speaker 1: I think is what to me drain some of the

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Speaker 1: excitement at the n b A playoffs, right that both

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Speaker 1: conference finals had these teams sort of limping for the finish. Um,

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Speaker 1: I'm okay with new different teams. I'd be lying if

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Speaker 1: I said I wasn't a little burnt out by the season. Um,

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Speaker 1: it's been uh and I think a lot of NBA

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Speaker 1: fans are. But the last night's game was fun. I

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Speaker 1: found it like fun nerdy basketball, but not the way

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Speaker 1: you know what NBA Twitter likes to say, Well, you

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Speaker 1: know this is really cool picking roll coverage and you

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Speaker 1: can follow that and like, yeah, that part's fun too,

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Speaker 1: But I just found there was just fun and the

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Speaker 1: Suns are just really good. They're really good. Yeah, it

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Speaker 1: felt I don't want to use the word basic in

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Speaker 1: a derogatory sense, but it did feel kind of like

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Speaker 1: a basic game. There was no there was nothing really

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Speaker 1: special about the game. Uh, you're right. The pick and

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Speaker 1: roll was everything and the Bucks can't handle Chris paul I,

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Speaker 1: I don't know. I had predicted four or games or

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Speaker 1: five the Sun's walk over. I didn't think you honestly,

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Speaker 1: because but do you, I mean, do you think the

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Speaker 1: Bucks can win this? I don't know. I think every

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Speaker 1: prediction I've made this postseason, if I was betting on them,

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Speaker 1: might be homeless. Um, so my predictions are a little off. Yeah, listen,

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Speaker 1: we do this every game, every series. The Bucks lose

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Speaker 1: the first game and then we make fun of that,

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Speaker 1: we make fun of Bud and we say Janice can't

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Speaker 1: shoot in all this, and they bounce back and they

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Speaker 1: look good. And why I shouldn't say look good, excuse me.

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Speaker 1: They never look good, but they seem to just pull

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Speaker 1: it off. Part of it is some of the luck,

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Speaker 1: like beating Um, facing a hobble tray young or trayng

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Speaker 1: out and next team that was hobbled um. But they

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Speaker 1: have a level of resiliency. Their defense is usually really good.

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Speaker 1: That's the thing from last night. One of the things

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Speaker 1: that stands out as Milwaukee had basically gotten here under defense.

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Speaker 1: It was the number one defense in the playoffs coming

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Speaker 1: to the coming into last night's game. Obviously they were

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Speaker 1: not that yesterday. Um so I don't want to count

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Speaker 1: them out. The way I've been thinking about it this

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Speaker 1: morning is like it feels like they have to stretch

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Speaker 1: more to match Phoenix, if that makes sense. It feels

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Speaker 1: like they need they have to reach a higher level,

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Speaker 1: whereas Phoenix is just Phoenix is so good and well

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Speaker 1: rounded and they don't have any week This is to exploit.

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Speaker 1: And they're so good and well rounded and diverse that

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Speaker 1: they can exploit anything you throw at them and find

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Speaker 1: the weakness in it. And that's just it makes it

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Speaker 1: gives your your margin for error is really slim when

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Speaker 1: facing them. I do wonder if this Sun's team is

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Speaker 1: built for the long haul right there, I mean no

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Speaker 1: playoffs forever. Add Chris Paul and boom there in the

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Speaker 1: championship with some help, But there is the idea that

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Speaker 1: you know, Chris Paul talked about opting out. You know,

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Speaker 1: he's do forty one mill next year, and oh, well,

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Speaker 1: who would walk away from forty one William Well a

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Speaker 1: guy who just won a championship and now really he

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Speaker 1: doesn't need to play for the forty one mill. Maybe

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Speaker 1: he's at the height of his powers. He's probably gonna

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Speaker 1: win a finals MVP. Does he opt out? And I

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Speaker 1: don't know, you're you're wrong? Does he consider going elsewhere?

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know. I mean you gotta imagine

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Speaker 1: they'll get a max after this year, right, the three year,

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Speaker 1: but he can't get the four year max. So but

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Speaker 1: so who gives them the three year? My phoenix? Because

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Speaker 1: how can they afford that with having to pay eight

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Speaker 1: and pretty soon? Yeah, the math is hard and Bridges

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Speaker 1: also Bridges, Yeah, and and Bridges was good. It has

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Speaker 1: been good these playoffs another, Yeah, the Bridges is gonna

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Speaker 1: he'll get paid. Like if you have a if you're

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Speaker 1: a three and D term gets thrown around too often, right,

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Speaker 1: It's like anyone who can play a little defense and

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Speaker 1: shoot maybe three six percent from three is considered three

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Speaker 1: and D. And the reason for that is because the

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Speaker 1: teams aren't. So those guys are so hard to find.

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Speaker 1: It's so hard to find wings who are able to

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Speaker 1: hold their own on both sides. I bring this up

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Speaker 1: because Bridges is actually you know, elite whatever would He's

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Speaker 1: really good at both of those, right, He's legitimately a

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Speaker 1: really cred defender. He's a legitimately good three point shooters.

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Speaker 1: He's young. So guy like that, it's gonna get paid

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Speaker 1: on the market. Um, yeah, the math gets funny. You know,

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Speaker 1: I don't know this, so I don't have the hour.

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Speaker 1: The math gets funky, um for sure, and aid and

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Speaker 1: also like you know, they're happy his agency and all

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Speaker 1: of them are sitting there watching and saying, that's like

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Speaker 1: Max right, number one pick, Like that's what they're gonna ask.

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Speaker 1: And I'm like, what, what's you know? If he if

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Speaker 1: you offer him anything less, he'll say, fine, I'll hit

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Speaker 1: the market. I'm better than you know, the centers in

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Speaker 1: the league probably. Yeah, I mean that's I mean, that's like,

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Speaker 1: you know, it's a different conversation when you have the

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Speaker 1: cap structure. Is basically basically that what max players are

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Speaker 1: not always the best players. It's like, if you're good,

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Speaker 1: you asked for max. Right, that's kind of how it

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Speaker 1: goes because you have the minimum. So yeah, guys like

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Speaker 1: John Collins is gonna get paid as much as Lebron.

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Speaker 1: You know, I'm exactly it goes, right, But that's just

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Speaker 1: how it goes. It's just the you know max. If

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Speaker 1: you're good, you get a max um what you asked

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Speaker 1: for it at least um. So I agree with you

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Speaker 1: on that. Um, I don't know if Phoenix has to

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Speaker 1: try to keep him and the others. I mean, obviously

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Speaker 1: it's New York and a bunch of other teams with

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Speaker 1: cap room, we're gonna Yeah, Paul thinks, I mean the

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Speaker 1: Sons listen, Sons benches. Really, I think that's a huge

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Speaker 1: edj have over the Bucks. You know, Pain is good.

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Speaker 1: I know Sarah got hurt, but um, you know, Cam

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Speaker 1: Johnson is good. This is a good Soun's team. But

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Speaker 1: the fact remains, like when we start next season and

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Speaker 1: everybody's healthy, give me your top three in the West,

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Speaker 1: assuming everybody stays, you know, all the regular guys stay

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Speaker 1: where they're supposed to go, like Kauai and Paul George.

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Speaker 1: Don't leave um in any way shape for him, Like

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Speaker 1: are the Sun's even top three in the West to

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Speaker 1: start next year. I guess, well, the Nuggets are a

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Speaker 1: tough one because Murray is gonna be out for so long.

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Speaker 1: But I don't know. I'm bullish on the Nuggets with

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Speaker 1: with a healthy Murray, Gordon and uh the m v P. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the problem, Yeah, Gore and fit really well with the

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Speaker 1: problem is the Murray injury is, Um, you know, it's

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Speaker 1: We've seen that. It's it's it's we always think it's

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Speaker 1: a year and then you realize, like the guy comes

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Speaker 1: back and it doesn't look good, and then you realize

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Speaker 1: the next season's like, oh wait, you know, usually it's

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Speaker 1: kind of a two year injury. I'm with you, right,

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Speaker 1: the Lakers and Clippers, assuming Kauai stays right, which I

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Speaker 1: would assume. Um, Lakers and Clippers are gonna be the

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Speaker 1: favorites I think coming out of the West, even with

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Speaker 1: the Sun. But the Suns are Chaz were the number

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Speaker 1: one seed. I forgot about them. I mean, you know,

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Speaker 1: we'll see Donovan Mitchell's unhappy, but who isn't unhappy? Um,

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Speaker 1: so yeah, I mean I'm not. It's weird you if

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Speaker 1: you say that the Sun's had an easy path to

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Speaker 1: the finals, you get people yelling at you if you

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Speaker 1: say they're not you know, they wouldn't beat the Lakers,

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Speaker 1: people yelling like you really can't win talking about these finals.

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Speaker 1: It's it's kind of raptors issue, is it not? Yes? Well,

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Speaker 1: and that's the comparison is funny to do because right,

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Speaker 1: I think Kauai was the first Finals MVP to um

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Speaker 1: leave the team the next year, right, so that would

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Speaker 1: be the same I like that, Paul, Yes, yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: huh so it's a similar thing. Again, I don't know.

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Speaker 1: I mean Paul picked that the Sons also, which that's

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Speaker 1: the other part to remember, right, he specifically he wasn't

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Speaker 1: a free agent, but he worked with the Thunder like

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Speaker 1: that was the team he wanted to go to, Right,

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Speaker 1: he picked the Sons. Um. I think him and Booker

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Speaker 1: have talked about this writing book that the conversations they've

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Speaker 1: had and how Paul wanted to be there. Um, I

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Speaker 1: don't know. I guess you never know. Um, you never know.

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Speaker 1: In the n b A, I don't predict um Robert

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Speaker 1: Sarver decisions in general. Right, I think that's a good

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Speaker 1: idea to avoid that stuff. Um, I don't know, but

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Speaker 1: I will say like, yeah, I wish they would have

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Speaker 1: gone against good team. Good Western Conference teams are beating

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Speaker 1: the full Western Conference. But they've also had their own issues.

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Speaker 1: Chris Paul had COVID and the arm and the thumb

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Speaker 1: and did um so it hasn't been they haven't been there.

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Speaker 1: It's not like they've avoided all injuries. And I think

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Speaker 1: they're really really good team. I'm curious what are you

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Speaker 1: more excited for free agency where we'll see what happens.

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Speaker 1: I mean, in a perfect world, Donovan Mitchell demands a trade,

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Speaker 1: and uh, you know, Kauai says, get Paul George out

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Speaker 1: of here, and Damian Lillard. Ben Simon's yeah, that would

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Speaker 1: be great for free agency, but the reality is it's

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Speaker 1: not a great free agency. Are you more excited for

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Speaker 1: the draft after this or free agency? Um, I'm excited

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Speaker 1: for the off seat more between the two. The free

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Speaker 1: agency class things, right, it's like the Marborosa might be

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Speaker 1: the top guy if you look at it, not counting

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Speaker 1: the restricted guys, right, and you never know and that

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Speaker 1: stuff like, yeah, the John Collins thing could get interesting.

421
00:20:39,160 --> 00:20:42,479
Speaker 1: He's a restricted free agent that can get interesting in Atlanta. UM,

422
00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:44,399
Speaker 1: they obviously shouldn't want him back, but they also have

423
00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:47,120
Speaker 1: guys where they can replace him if the or maybe

424
00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:48,920
Speaker 1: can replace them, but guys who can step in, young

425
00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,200
Speaker 1: players who would fill that role if the price tag

426
00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,960
Speaker 1: gets too steep, um the draft. It's just I'm always

427
00:20:55,000 --> 00:20:56,800
Speaker 1: interested to see how these teams trying to take these

428
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:59,440
Speaker 1: next steps right. So it's not it's not necessarily looking

429
00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:01,360
Speaker 1: at like at first free agency. I kind of look

430
00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:02,879
Speaker 1: at the off season as a whole and just seeing

431
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:04,840
Speaker 1: and I think that's a team's approach it to right

432
00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:06,960
Speaker 1: what steps we're gonna take. So again, you brought up

433
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:08,680
Speaker 1: the Lillard like I mean Portland's I don't think they're

434
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:12,080
Speaker 1: gonna trade Lillard this off season unless he demands it.

435
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,680
Speaker 1: Then it gets potentially interesting, correct. I just find it

436
00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 1: one I don't know. I find it hard to believe

437
00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:20,440
Speaker 1: that Shauncey and him despite all the weird reports that

438
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:22,159
Speaker 1: have come out and Lillard seems to be having some

439
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:24,080
Speaker 1: sort of like your life crisis, But like I find

440
00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,960
Speaker 1: it hard to believe that him and Billups, that Chauncey

441
00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:30,600
Speaker 1: Billups took that job without having some sort of conversation

442
00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,199
Speaker 1: with Damian or saying like we're gonna do this at

443
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:35,720
Speaker 1: least this will there'll be a chance here. Maybe I'm wrong,

444
00:21:35,760 --> 00:21:38,480
Speaker 1: maybe I'm assuming too much. Um, I also feel like,

445
00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:40,520
Speaker 1: but I think Portland's would make other moves, right, and

446
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:42,720
Speaker 1: I'll find that interesting and that stuff will sort of

447
00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:45,080
Speaker 1: be There will be domino effects there, right, whether the

448
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 1: moves are good or not, what happens to the Lord

449
00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:48,959
Speaker 1: And again Ben Simmons a similar thing as well. Right,

450
00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:50,720
Speaker 1: So there there's some big guys who could be gonna

451
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,520
Speaker 1: move this year. I'm curious. You know, one of the

452
00:21:53,600 --> 00:21:55,600
Speaker 1: narratives that we're starting to hear, I think you're gonna

453
00:21:55,640 --> 00:21:58,120
Speaker 1: hear a lot more of it is the homegrown Phoenix

454
00:21:58,160 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 1: Suns drafted Booker draft at eight and drafted Bridges. Oh,

455
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:03,000
Speaker 1: and they added you know, Chris Paul to the mix.

456
00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:06,160
Speaker 1: But there is this idea and and again I love

457
00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:08,040
Speaker 1: super teams. I don't know where you are on that,

458
00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,080
Speaker 1: Please let me know, But I just love the idea

459
00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 1: of the best players in the sport getting together to

460
00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:17,840
Speaker 1: join forces. Um. And it didn't work for the Nets, uh,

461
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,800
Speaker 1: And it didn't work this year for Lebron and a

462
00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,399
Speaker 1: d And it hasn't yet worked for the Clippers. But

463
00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:24,840
Speaker 1: for me, the Super Team or of the last decade.

464
00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,480
Speaker 1: I thought the NBA was as good as the Magic

465
00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 1: Bird eighties. For me, I absolutely loved it. And I

466
00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,199
Speaker 1: gotta be honest, this homegrown stuff is not to me

467
00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:36,800
Speaker 1: as spicy as Oh, Kyrie Irving is gonna pick where

468
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,080
Speaker 1: he wants to go, and so is James Harden and

469
00:22:39,119 --> 00:22:41,000
Speaker 1: so is this guy and that guy. I love that.

470
00:22:41,080 --> 00:22:43,560
Speaker 1: Where are you on the homegrown versus the super team?

471
00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:48,560
Speaker 1: So there's no there's no comparison, is to arguing, like

472
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 1: when these guys are holding free agency meetings with Kevin

473
00:22:51,280 --> 00:22:53,320
Speaker 1: Durant is camped out in the Hampton's and I'm going

474
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,359
Speaker 1: to visit it anyway like that it had to or

475
00:22:56,600 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 1: the Classic when that started. All this was the DeAndre

476
00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,560
Speaker 1: Jordan's Um hostage, right, Like all this stuff, it's it's

477
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,200
Speaker 1: ridiculous and fun and silly and it captivates us and

478
00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:09,359
Speaker 1: all that. What I like, I'm not. I like. I

479
00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,600
Speaker 1: just find it enjoyable. I find it interesting when there

480
00:23:12,600 --> 00:23:15,560
Speaker 1: are different ways when teams approach thing and approach things

481
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,760
Speaker 1: in different ways. So maybe at some point of super

482
00:23:17,760 --> 00:23:21,280
Speaker 1: teams something going drafting um and just goes the other

483
00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:22,840
Speaker 1: way by the way, Like I find it kind of

484
00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 1: boring when everyone's trying to do the horn draft picks.

485
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 1: It's to the process, Like I like when there's different

486
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:29,800
Speaker 1: people trying to build different ladies, like the Charlotte Horne

487
00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:32,320
Speaker 1: say we're gonna, you know, try to win now and

488
00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:34,439
Speaker 1: try to look into a draft to us, And I

489
00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 1: think that's it's fun. I think it's fun for fans

490
00:23:37,080 --> 00:23:40,760
Speaker 1: to see like we I think often fans and media

491
00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:42,639
Speaker 1: we always get to, well, this is the way to

492
00:23:42,680 --> 00:23:44,600
Speaker 1: do things. So if you're not doing this, you're not

493
00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:48,080
Speaker 1: following this plan that we say is smart, you are wrong.

494
00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:51,320
Speaker 1: And exactly yes, that and that has a lot to

495
00:23:51,359 --> 00:23:54,240
Speaker 1: do with the process, right, Remember that everybody hated the process.

496
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:56,760
Speaker 1: You're trading Michael Carter Williams, he was the rookie of

497
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:58,960
Speaker 1: the year. Well we have we have a process here

498
00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:02,680
Speaker 1: and it didn't work out. You're getting mercilessly killed by

499
00:24:02,760 --> 00:24:05,439
Speaker 1: at fans and and even the media because the media

500
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:08,080
Speaker 1: is a little traditionalist. I mean, I think you would agree, right,

501
00:24:08,080 --> 00:24:10,040
Speaker 1: and and we're in the media, but I certainly am

502
00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:13,240
Speaker 1: not a traditionalist. Yeah, it's just and a but even

503
00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:14,600
Speaker 1: goes the other way too, Right, Then you have a

504
00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:18,080
Speaker 1: bunch of people who say, like it's we'll say non

505
00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,920
Speaker 1: traditionalist um wing of basketball coverage, right, and it's more

506
00:24:21,960 --> 00:24:24,000
Speaker 1: of that now. You have to always if you're not

507
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:25,600
Speaker 1: a championship team. That's why I would sa, if you're

508
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:28,199
Speaker 1: a championship team, tank right. Everyone makes fun of the

509
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,920
Speaker 1: the Portland More even the Joe Johnson Hawks, but everyone

510
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 1: made fun of those, have made fun of those. The

511
00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:36,520
Speaker 1: thing about that team is like they made the conference

512
00:24:36,520 --> 00:24:38,639
Speaker 1: finals two years. I forget what like that team? That

513
00:24:38,760 --> 00:24:40,720
Speaker 1: was not a failure, right, that was not a failure.

514
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: And I think we're a little too quick to say, oh,

515
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:46,199
Speaker 1: you're stuck, you plateau uh polish shoot, you know, go

516
00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:48,439
Speaker 1: back and start tanking. And it's fun to see teams

517
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:50,919
Speaker 1: go in different directions. But to answer your original question,

518
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:52,960
Speaker 1: like I like, yeah, I have a super team here,

519
00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:55,880
Speaker 1: a homegrown team here, a little mixing of both here

520
00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 1: and just let's see, let's see what happens. We gotta

521
00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,080
Speaker 1: remember the Warriors were homegrown. Curry, Clay Draymond all were drafted.

522
00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,879
Speaker 1: Uh And you mentioned a good point about Lamello being drafted,

523
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 1: but they brought in Gordon Hayward and Terry Rogier like

524
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:10,879
Speaker 1: a hybrid is is a good idea. But I do

525
00:25:11,080 --> 00:25:15,120
Speaker 1: like this like new uh, the new ways to win,

526
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: Like I'm not I'm gonna go again conventional wisdom and

527
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:19,679
Speaker 1: I'm going to try and that I want to bring

528
00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,640
Speaker 1: up Ben Simmons because I believe somebody is gonna say,

529
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:26,359
Speaker 1: you know what, we can either do what you said,

530
00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,520
Speaker 1: be Portland and Joe Johnson Hawks and win some games

531
00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:31,359
Speaker 1: to go to the playoffs, or we can just swing

532
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,840
Speaker 1: for the fences. And do you think someone should bring

533
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: in Ben Simmons via trade by low and try to

534
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,000
Speaker 1: make him a small ball five and just have him

535
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,560
Speaker 1: play center and and try and just do things differently

536
00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 1: and try that you had a small ball five. Thing

537
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,320
Speaker 1: is interesting because so the defensively when the Sixers have

538
00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:50,160
Speaker 1: tried that in small samples, that hasn't been good. When

539
00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:51,760
Speaker 1: you would you would think gore to work well. Part

540
00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:53,680
Speaker 1: of that is also and this is what Simmons in

541
00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,040
Speaker 1: this camp would say, right like, not necessarily make us

542
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,399
Speaker 1: a small ball five. But it's most players in his

543
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,679
Speaker 1: situation number one picks, All Star, All NBA. What if

544
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,800
Speaker 1: you're gonna call it the entire team is built around

545
00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 1: They would let's say like that everything is built around

546
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: the honest to accent toy his scot strength and let

547
00:26:08,760 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 1: him succeed Simmons is not as good as honest. But

548
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 1: that's that would be the argument that his camp and

549
00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,280
Speaker 1: he would make is that you know, built towards blessed

550
00:26:15,320 --> 00:26:18,920
Speaker 1: ranks and I'll pay you all repay you. Um so yeah,

551
00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:20,879
Speaker 1: I think somebody should buy love right. It's it's not

552
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:23,320
Speaker 1: gonna work in Philly. They're gonna have to make a

553
00:26:23,359 --> 00:26:25,239
Speaker 1: move here. What they do before the season, I don't know.

554
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,680
Speaker 1: I'd be surprised if he starts on that rosters for

555
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,119
Speaker 1: a host of reasons, I guess Darryl Morey maybe for

556
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:32,879
Speaker 1: the sides that the market is too crappy and the

557
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,520
Speaker 1: offers are too bad and just like I'm not gonna

558
00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:36,479
Speaker 1: trade a guide is lowest value, it's not worth it.

559
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,959
Speaker 1: Um that the issue one of the problems with finding

560
00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:41,880
Speaker 1: a partners you need like you gotta start, you start

561
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,840
Speaker 1: eliminating teams, right, So the first you need a team

562
00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,719
Speaker 1: that can send the sixers back players that can help them,

563
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:48,879
Speaker 1: which are basically guys in their prime now who a

564
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:51,479
Speaker 1: perimeter can create shots on the outside and shoot right,

565
00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:54,080
Speaker 1: if it would the need help Philly do what they

566
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,199
Speaker 1: haven't done before. Right, So you have that, then you

567
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,440
Speaker 1: need a team that can absorb Simmons into their roster,

568
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:00,600
Speaker 1: meaning basically they have shooters. If they have any non

569
00:27:00,640 --> 00:27:03,440
Speaker 1: shooters in the core'm not gonna work. You start like

570
00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,720
Speaker 1: slicing teams off little by little and the pie gets

571
00:27:06,760 --> 00:27:10,720
Speaker 1: a little smaller there. But yeah, I mean I wrote

572
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:12,960
Speaker 1: a big story from Simmons and for the site and

573
00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:15,040
Speaker 1: just talking about the things he doesn't do any issues.

574
00:27:15,119 --> 00:27:18,840
Speaker 1: But it's always important too to add the qualifier. He's

575
00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:21,680
Speaker 1: a great player, he's great defense, generates points. I always

576
00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:24,800
Speaker 1: pushed back, he's not a bad offensive player transition uh

577
00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:26,600
Speaker 1: three points and like you know he I think he

578
00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:28,960
Speaker 1: creates the most three pointers via past than anyone in

579
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 1: the league. Like he generates points, but in the half

580
00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,120
Speaker 1: court offense he is he's not a will to participate.

581
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,080
Speaker 1: He's a negative there and that's the problem. Fox Sports

582
00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 1: Radio has the best sports talk lineup in the nation.

583
00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,040
Speaker 1: Catch all of our shows at Fox sports Radio dot

584
00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:46,080
Speaker 1: com and within the I Heart Radio app search f

585
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:49,920
Speaker 1: s R to listen live. So it's interesting you just mentioned,

586
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:52,879
Speaker 1: like what Simmons can't do. And I gotta be honest,

587
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,720
Speaker 1: I really and again maybe my wife was like the

588
00:27:55,760 --> 00:27:58,359
Speaker 1: class optimist, and I think she's read in the last

589
00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,640
Speaker 1: like you know, uh Ja said, no, I'm with you though,

590
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,800
Speaker 1: that's the thing I used. I'm very pessimistic. But when

591
00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,000
Speaker 1: you say what Simmons can't do, I like to look

592
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:09,640
Speaker 1: at the other side. Now, Oh, but here's what Ben

593
00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 1: Simmons is really good at. And in the NFL, we've

594
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,160
Speaker 1: seen some teams say, you know what, Lamar Jackson, don't

595
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,360
Speaker 1: worry about what he can't do. This is what he's

596
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,720
Speaker 1: really good at. Let's build around him and boom, he's

597
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:21,159
Speaker 1: the m v P. They're going to the playoffs or

598
00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,480
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl contender. I wonder if someone like Toronto

599
00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:28,680
Speaker 1: would say, yeah, Ben Simmons can be our small ball fives.

600
00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 1: He can do this. Why don't we say, hey, take

601
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,760
Speaker 1: Pascal Sam off our hands. Him and Nick Nurse didn't

602
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 1: really get along. I think he got suspended twice this

603
00:28:36,840 --> 00:28:40,800
Speaker 1: year um for for incidents with uh with Nick Nurse,

604
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 1: and yeah, take Sam. We'll put Ben Simmons at the five.

605
00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: Maybe we bring back Lowry, we get all shooting, we

606
00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:51,200
Speaker 1: keep Gary Trent Van fleet Uh and Nobe and look

607
00:28:51,240 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: at what we got. We got something crazy and different

608
00:28:53,760 --> 00:28:55,920
Speaker 1: and radical, and you know what, We're Toronto. You know

609
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:57,720
Speaker 1: the only time we got to the finals is when

610
00:28:57,720 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 1: we got Kaua. I get lucky. Let's build around, Ben Simmons.

611
00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:02,760
Speaker 1: I mean, is is that too crazy of an idea

612
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 1: for you? I don't know about to I don't know.

613
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,640
Speaker 1: So the short answers, no, Like again, I'm with you

614
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 1: on that. That's some team. And again you look at

615
00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,120
Speaker 1: markets where you're not gonna get a guy like um,

616
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 1: go for it a hundred per again, and it's the

617
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 1: issue is going to be will Philly well they have

618
00:29:16,840 --> 00:29:19,840
Speaker 1: enough to send back to Philly where it's worth like sociakum,

619
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: it's not worth it for Philly, but they need shooting. Right,

620
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 1: you have another guy who's not a great shooter. It's

621
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: going to run two similar Okay, what about in the

622
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 1: four Now that's probably a little bit much, But that's

623
00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,760
Speaker 1: that's the other thing. I am curious if they commit

624
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:36,960
Speaker 1: the trading Simmons. It does feel like to answer, I'm

625
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: not fully answering your question, but it does like the

626
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:40,760
Speaker 1: way to do is maybe a two steps of trade.

627
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:42,400
Speaker 1: Right when you make it a deal. So let's say

628
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:44,680
Speaker 1: for the four making that up right, and then the

629
00:29:44,760 --> 00:29:46,560
Speaker 1: number four pick doesn't help Filly. Now that's not what

630
00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:48,080
Speaker 1: they want. They don't want a twenty year old. They

631
00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 1: need to win down. But it does seem like if

632
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:52,800
Speaker 1: you're having issues finding partners, you get you get some

633
00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,320
Speaker 1: assets back, and then you then redirect that to some

634
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,160
Speaker 1: a third team who can give you back to the

635
00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,560
Speaker 1: players you need and can. They couldn't absorb Simmons, but

636
00:29:59,560 --> 00:30:01,560
Speaker 1: they are just needs to say the fourth page or

637
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 1: whatever the ASCID is you're getting back, right, it seems

638
00:30:03,640 --> 00:30:05,520
Speaker 1: like we might be headed for a place where that

639
00:30:05,600 --> 00:30:08,440
Speaker 1: might be the Sixers best option there. Yeah. Um and

640
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,160
Speaker 1: and I asked about like the GM and way to

641
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:12,760
Speaker 1: build teams because you wrote a pretty incredible piece for

642
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:18,560
Speaker 1: The Ringer back in April, the NBA's GM Kingmaker about

643
00:30:18,560 --> 00:30:22,040
Speaker 1: a guy who was with the English Premier League and

644
00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:25,080
Speaker 1: he quietly behind the scenes, has been a mate mover

645
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:29,120
Speaker 1: and shaker for some some pretty bad organizations. I'm curious

646
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:31,920
Speaker 1: how you stumbled upon the story and do you think

647
00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,120
Speaker 1: that any of his teams are going to be successful

648
00:30:34,120 --> 00:30:36,200
Speaker 1: here in the coming years. That's fine, so yeah, the guy.

649
00:30:36,200 --> 00:30:37,760
Speaker 1: I'll give a quick cliff that's the guy's name is

650
00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,080
Speaker 1: Mike Ford. He's a head hunter. Basically, he's become the

651
00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:42,640
Speaker 1: go to head hunter for owners when they're trying to

652
00:30:42,680 --> 00:30:44,960
Speaker 1: hire gms. And it's kind of it kind of stumbled

653
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,760
Speaker 1: into this. His connection was on our cdu Ferns basically

654
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:50,000
Speaker 1: brought into the n b A and if you then heed,

655
00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:52,440
Speaker 1: what did um and that's higher for Sea marks and

656
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,080
Speaker 1: then the three since then have been Washington with Tommy Shepherd,

657
00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:57,440
Speaker 1: whish is this is getting to your point? In New

658
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:02,400
Speaker 1: Orleans with David Griffin and uh, the King's with Monty McNair. Okay,

659
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:05,360
Speaker 1: told The Time Out David Griffin criminally overrated or just

660
00:31:05,480 --> 00:31:09,120
Speaker 1: vastly overrated. It's I don't know, I feel like everybody

661
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: he returns everybody's text in the media, and I mean,

662
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:13,520
Speaker 1: I don't know if you guys are friends, but like

663
00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:16,960
Speaker 1: he'll talk to everybody, so everybody says great things about him.

664
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:20,040
Speaker 1: I hated his Dan Van Gundy high. I really really

665
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: do not like the build around Zion. I'm upset, but

666
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,840
Speaker 1: David Griffin real quick to not to derail you know,

667
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: it's I'm not I'm not I don't. I'm not friends Griffin. Um,

668
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,080
Speaker 1: the no, I think he did a pretty poor job

669
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 1: and he wasn't didn't want it feels like five years already.

670
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:36,280
Speaker 1: But you're right, doesn't. It does feel like the David

671
00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,520
Speaker 1: Griffin era in New Orleans, like four years already. Um,

672
00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:40,560
Speaker 1: I would say it's pretty obviously did a pretty poor

673
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:44,320
Speaker 1: job last year and every facet right, Um, roster construction,

674
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,960
Speaker 1: not good coach hiring, not good coach management, not good

675
00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:51,880
Speaker 1: player management, relationships for whatever I call it. Uh, Clearly

676
00:31:52,000 --> 00:31:53,960
Speaker 1: Zion is not Thrill Bearance one of the guys too,

677
00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 1: So I would say it's a big whip right all around.

678
00:31:56,640 --> 00:31:58,960
Speaker 1: So yeah, anyway back to your guy. Yeah, So to

679
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,840
Speaker 1: answer your questionnaire, Um, so yes, he would hire those guys.

680
00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:04,600
Speaker 1: So it's kind of it's it's interesting, it'sill goes two ways.

681
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,680
Speaker 1: I don't remember. So the teams are the idea of

682
00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 1: hiring a headhunter is a weird thing, right, He's not

683
00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 1: He's not a basketball guy. You said he's a soccer guy. Um,

684
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,720
Speaker 1: And I mentioned before on the cynic right, I'm somebody

685
00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:19,280
Speaker 1: I don't necessarily personally buy into a consultant talk speak,

686
00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:21,440
Speaker 1: you know, and all that stuff in terms of organizations.

687
00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:23,320
Speaker 1: But I will say that almost pointed out to me

688
00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:24,920
Speaker 1: as I was reporting the story, is that a lot

689
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 1: of owners and you'll laugh as an astators are really

690
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: bad and hiring gms. Right, there's they're really beat at it.

691
00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 1: And we've any fan who knows, like, we'll just say

692
00:32:32,600 --> 00:32:34,680
Speaker 1: it's probably nodding their headset. Yeah, my own room, my

693
00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:37,400
Speaker 1: team stinks at it. Right. So if there's a guy

694
00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:40,040
Speaker 1: who is even putting any effort in and he takes

695
00:32:40,040 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: it seriously and those two things he does, right, he's

696
00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:44,280
Speaker 1: putting effort in, he takes it seriously. So yeah, it

697
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:45,959
Speaker 1: could be like we could say it's a you know,

698
00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,040
Speaker 1: spending half a million or whatever on a guy like

699
00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:50,960
Speaker 1: that for a month of work is ridiculous, but not

700
00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:52,680
Speaker 1: our money. And there are a lot of people on

701
00:32:52,720 --> 00:32:55,160
Speaker 1: the league who think that's smarter. There's some issues that

702
00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:57,480
Speaker 1: come along with that. You know, where you're just dipping

703
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:00,440
Speaker 1: into the same Kennedy pool everywhere and says guy kind

704
00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,680
Speaker 1: of society who works where and he's relying on it connections. Um,

705
00:33:03,720 --> 00:33:05,320
Speaker 1: But there is something to be said about people who

706
00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: take this job seriously in owners less basketball. But the

707
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,400
Speaker 1: fewer decisions basketball related decisions owners make. I think in

708
00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:15,160
Speaker 1: general the better off the NBA world is, right, so

709
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,920
Speaker 1: that would be the benefit there. Do you think that

710
00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:20,120
Speaker 1: some of these owners, you know that again we're talking

711
00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,520
Speaker 1: about billionaires. You know, they're used to just running ship

712
00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 1: everywhere they go and dominating. You know, sports is a

713
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:27,120
Speaker 1: different animal, do you know? You know, do are you

714
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:29,800
Speaker 1: one of these guys who thinks that you kind of

715
00:33:29,840 --> 00:33:32,560
Speaker 1: need someone with the sports background there or are you

716
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,440
Speaker 1: more the analytical guys Like I've listened to some podcasts

717
00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,040
Speaker 1: with Sam Hinky and I love everything that guy has

718
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 1: to say. Then you look at the track record and

719
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,760
Speaker 1: the results and you're like, well, you know, yeah, he

720
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:46,080
Speaker 1: hasn't won a chip. But again, like you know, a

721
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,160
Speaker 1: lot of people haven't one championships. I don't know where

722
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:51,760
Speaker 1: are you on the analytic divide versus um you know,

723
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,040
Speaker 1: the the just like the sports guy who has a

724
00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:57,320
Speaker 1: lot of experience, so in that UM I think the

725
00:33:57,360 --> 00:33:59,720
Speaker 1: mistake is always when you separate them, right. I think

726
00:33:59,720 --> 00:34:02,920
Speaker 1: it's or it's like whenever the idea. We call them analytics,

727
00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:04,840
Speaker 1: and I've talked to people who work in the analytics

728
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 1: departments and they hate it, And I think it's silly too,

729
00:34:07,080 --> 00:34:10,120
Speaker 1: because it's it's all the same thing, Like it's numbers.

730
00:34:10,160 --> 00:34:12,840
Speaker 1: It's looking at numbers and kind of showing them. Here's

731
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:14,600
Speaker 1: someone wants to use this example to explain to me.

732
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: So say you're sitting I'll be a little along with it.

733
00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 1: But say you're sitting around that A team says, hey,

734
00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:20,719
Speaker 1: we need to improve our three point shooting, right, and

735
00:34:20,719 --> 00:34:22,719
Speaker 1: they tell the alam Links guy go look up three

736
00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:24,640
Speaker 1: point shooters and they bring it back. But they're not

737
00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,720
Speaker 1: asking the right questions. Right, It's not just who shoots

738
00:34:26,719 --> 00:34:29,319
Speaker 1: the best three point shooting, it's that who's putting up

739
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,080
Speaker 1: the most volume. Oh but wait, maybe our issue is

740
00:34:32,120 --> 00:34:34,400
Speaker 1: that we're not having dribble penetration. Right. Maybe our issue

741
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:36,959
Speaker 1: is defenses aren't helping. And therefore, if we have guys,

742
00:34:36,960 --> 00:34:39,239
Speaker 1: you know, help defenses, we can trigger rotations and that's

743
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:41,440
Speaker 1: gonna get our shooters more open looks. And so you

744
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,479
Speaker 1: need people who can sort of be together and ask

745
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:45,640
Speaker 1: the right questions. So you make sure you're putting in

746
00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:47,960
Speaker 1: the right data requests for lack of better term, right,

747
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:49,560
Speaker 1: or so you're asking the right questions when you go

748
00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:52,680
Speaker 1: try to apply your quote unquote analytics. Right, So that's

749
00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:54,680
Speaker 1: where the wall. If you have a wall between the stuff,

750
00:34:54,680 --> 00:34:57,400
Speaker 1: it's a mistake. You need everyone working in concert um

751
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:00,799
Speaker 1: and working together on these things. UM. So to be like,

752
00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,239
Speaker 1: I think that is great. I think you know the

753
00:35:03,280 --> 00:35:06,279
Speaker 1: way I was phrased as like all expertise and experience

754
00:35:06,320 --> 00:35:08,680
Speaker 1: should be valued and relied on, and the idea of

755
00:35:08,719 --> 00:35:11,239
Speaker 1: just going to one or the others mistakes. So Sam Thanky,

756
00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:13,640
Speaker 1: I always thought one of his biggest mistakes, and I

757
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:15,239
Speaker 1: wrote a book on the Sixers in the process, and

758
00:35:15,239 --> 00:35:17,880
Speaker 1: one of his biggest mistakes was that whatever say, what

759
00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,960
Speaker 1: do you want about him? He's top executives and for

760
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 1: somebody who you know uses Silicon Valley speaking different views

761
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,080
Speaker 1: and all that stuff and loves talking like that. And

762
00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:28,040
Speaker 1: then you look at his top executives where all people

763
00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:30,800
Speaker 1: who approached the game like him, they weren't a background

764
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:33,640
Speaker 1: I'll say, Coote analytics guys, are those were the top

765
00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:36,319
Speaker 1: executives were Like the example I always give is if

766
00:35:36,320 --> 00:35:38,880
Speaker 1: you had he could use an Elkton brand type as

767
00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:41,400
Speaker 1: his assistant GM, and I'm really surprised that he didn't.

768
00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:43,880
Speaker 1: And then you have different viewpoints and different experience and

769
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,800
Speaker 1: expertise coming together, and I think that's always a great example,

770
00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:48,600
Speaker 1: and the mistake is just relying on one and not

771
00:35:48,719 --> 00:35:50,560
Speaker 1: the other. Yeah. I bring that up because I did

772
00:35:50,560 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 1: a mock draft for Fox Sports recently, and you know,

773
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,759
Speaker 1: I'm texting people I know about players and they're like, hey,

774
00:35:55,760 --> 00:36:00,160
Speaker 1: this guy McBride from West Virginia. Hey, he's he's he's

775
00:36:00,160 --> 00:36:03,560
Speaker 1: pretty good. And I'm like, I watched some West Virginia

776
00:36:03,600 --> 00:36:05,279
Speaker 1: this year. I didn't think he was the first or

777
00:36:05,360 --> 00:36:07,400
Speaker 1: is like the best layer of times and they're like

778
00:36:07,840 --> 00:36:11,279
Speaker 1: his measurements would he measured at the combine? Translate to

779
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:15,359
Speaker 1: guys his height with that wingspan usually are very successful

780
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,439
Speaker 1: in the league. And that's just something that's not part

781
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:20,400
Speaker 1: of my DNA that I like, I don't have that

782
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,920
Speaker 1: in my database. And I started, you know, you mentioned

783
00:36:22,920 --> 00:36:25,719
Speaker 1: some names. Okay, alright, So so there, I think you're

784
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:28,960
Speaker 1: spot on with the analytics take. But then you have

785
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:32,320
Speaker 1: a guy like Yokich, who you know is a Doughey

786
00:36:32,440 --> 00:36:35,520
Speaker 1: European guy who gets drafted in the second round and

787
00:36:35,560 --> 00:36:38,480
Speaker 1: he just shatters every model that you've put together. So

788
00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:40,320
Speaker 1: what happens now with the draft this year? There's a

789
00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,800
Speaker 1: kid from Turkey who's eighteen years old, and if you squint,

790
00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:46,960
Speaker 1: you maybe see a little Yokich because you know he's

791
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 1: from that part of the world. And and again, you know,

792
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 1: I'm sure that guy's gonna get overdrafted. I put him

793
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,239
Speaker 1: too probably too high in my mock. But finding that

794
00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:56,960
Speaker 1: marriage and I don't know, as a writer, do you

795
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:58,960
Speaker 1: feel like you kind of have to marry both of

796
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,279
Speaker 1: those things, your et versus what the analytics tell you. Yeah,

797
00:37:02,320 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 1: I try to do. That's like I don't pretend to

798
00:37:03,680 --> 00:37:05,400
Speaker 1: be an experts. Let's say, you know, right now, I'm

799
00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:06,879
Speaker 1: trying to write something. I don't know what I'm gonna

800
00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:09,560
Speaker 1: write yet. Right, Let's say for something on game two, right,

801
00:37:09,640 --> 00:37:11,200
Speaker 1: and I'll do is I'm looking at all the numbers.

802
00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:13,000
Speaker 1: But then I'm also texting like existing coaches and just

803
00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,279
Speaker 1: being like, what are you seeing? And what do you

804
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:16,600
Speaker 1: because you gotta again it's it's a it's a really

805
00:37:16,760 --> 00:37:19,120
Speaker 1: low level example of what I'm talking about. Right where

806
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,319
Speaker 1: you again? And then sometimes people will tell you something,

807
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,400
Speaker 1: They'll say, I'm making this up, right, you know, they

808
00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 1: struggled in isolation, and you go look up and you

809
00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:26,879
Speaker 1: see the numbers of the opposite, and the eye test

810
00:37:26,920 --> 00:37:30,040
Speaker 1: can fool you. It's not kind of a mix to

811
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,680
Speaker 1: bring back your I think like I think Darryl Morey,

812
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:34,400
Speaker 1: I'm gonna forget it exactly. I think he had a

813
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,799
Speaker 1: rule like you couldn't um, you couldn't compare if you

814
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,239
Speaker 1: had a white guy in the draft, you couldn't compare

815
00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:40,960
Speaker 1: him with another white guys. Just want to get rid

816
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:44,279
Speaker 1: of all that stuff because it's just where our brains go,

817
00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:46,640
Speaker 1: right We just every white player is the next Lorry Bird.

818
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:50,160
Speaker 1: Every yes, every European ball handler of six seven is

819
00:37:50,320 --> 00:37:52,560
Speaker 1: Luka down right, and just well, I think the people

820
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:55,319
Speaker 1: are the Dedroit Pistons fans right now think that kid

821
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,560
Speaker 1: Cunningham is Luca Ish And I was like, did you

822
00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:02,480
Speaker 1: guys watch your goal? Misstate Like, no, that's not even close.

823
00:38:02,960 --> 00:38:05,400
Speaker 1: And and that's a problem. Now everybody projects kid to

824
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:07,480
Speaker 1: go number one. If you say, well, here's what he

825
00:38:07,520 --> 00:38:09,360
Speaker 1: doesn't do great, And I know that's going against what

826
00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:11,200
Speaker 1: I just said. You know, let's look at the positive.

827
00:38:11,239 --> 00:38:13,600
Speaker 1: But I don't, I don't he to me, he just

828
00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:16,360
Speaker 1: doesn't project as a totally dominant like he's not. I

829
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:19,759
Speaker 1: don't think he's a Paul George takeover kind of guy. Yeah,

830
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:21,359
Speaker 1: go ahead, go ahead. Now, I was gonna say two

831
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:23,920
Speaker 1: things when I'll reveal myself, and I'll I'm gonna outmost

832
00:38:23,960 --> 00:38:25,840
Speaker 1: NBA writers, Right, we don't watch the draft, or we

833
00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 1: don't we sorry, we watch the draft. The amount of

834
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:31,759
Speaker 1: college basketball I watched her so little, And I used

835
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 1: to joke that like Draft Express, Givoni Befree with the

836
00:38:34,640 --> 00:38:36,720
Speaker 1: ESPN needs to do these Strengths and Weakness these videos.

837
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:38,839
Speaker 1: And I think every NBA writer like that's how they

838
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,000
Speaker 1: would get their info on draft guys. And I you know,

839
00:38:42,040 --> 00:38:44,080
Speaker 1: you've watched the Strengths with the Strength video and it's

840
00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:46,399
Speaker 1: always separately and it's like, oh my god, this guy

841
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:49,279
Speaker 1: is the greatest guy ever the video and you're like,

842
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:51,040
Speaker 1: he stinks that. I always thought Kivoni could do some

843
00:38:51,080 --> 00:38:53,360
Speaker 1: sort of like bor Rat type prank where he just

844
00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:55,239
Speaker 1: makes up an analysis and sees if a bunch of

845
00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:58,319
Speaker 1: NBA writers follow along. Um what I will say though,

846
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,120
Speaker 1: So I'm not an I hold your expertise on the

847
00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:02,719
Speaker 1: college guys, but I will say it is but to

848
00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:05,520
Speaker 1: kind of go with your point, I think fans number

849
00:39:05,560 --> 00:39:07,399
Speaker 1: one picks a little different. But I think fans don't

850
00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:11,239
Speaker 1: necessarily realize, like what the average returns are draft picks.

851
00:39:11,280 --> 00:39:14,600
Speaker 1: They're lower than you think. Like the amount of guys

852
00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:17,800
Speaker 1: in a class who become really good or just starter

853
00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,880
Speaker 1: level professionals for you know, decade or whatever. It's like

854
00:39:21,960 --> 00:39:24,959
Speaker 1: really small. It's really minimal. And if you go draft

855
00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 1: by draft, the amount of drafts that have had the

856
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:29,239
Speaker 1: number one and number two pick both be good. It's

857
00:39:29,280 --> 00:39:31,200
Speaker 1: like one in thirty. I don't forget the number. It's

858
00:39:31,239 --> 00:39:33,680
Speaker 1: it's it's it's tiny. Um. So I always kind of

859
00:39:33,719 --> 00:39:35,759
Speaker 1: like to point that out. Yeah, it's kind of a crapshoot. Um.

860
00:39:35,760 --> 00:39:39,239
Speaker 1: All right, So we'll wrap up with the with the finals. Like,

861
00:39:39,640 --> 00:39:42,520
Speaker 1: I mean, if there's one change the Bucks can make

862
00:39:43,719 --> 00:39:45,799
Speaker 1: for Game two, is it you know brook Lopez only

863
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:48,600
Speaker 1: played twenty three minutes? Is it more brook Lopez? Is

864
00:39:48,640 --> 00:39:51,520
Speaker 1: it just simply Drew Holiday has to play better, because

865
00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:55,120
Speaker 1: let's look at the numbers. They made sixteen three shot

866
00:39:55,719 --> 00:39:58,799
Speaker 1: from deep. They won the offensive rebounds battle, like they

867
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:01,080
Speaker 1: did what they were supposed to do, and they still

868
00:40:01,080 --> 00:40:03,160
Speaker 1: got their butts caped by double digits and trailed by

869
00:40:03,280 --> 00:40:05,759
Speaker 1: double digits from much of the second half. I don't know,

870
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,120
Speaker 1: is there one change Boudenholder can make? And I'm sure

871
00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:11,000
Speaker 1: he's not listening because we know Boodenholder doesn't make changes

872
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:15,440
Speaker 1: until like the last desperate moment that he possibly can. Um.

873
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:18,200
Speaker 1: It's really fascinating, right, because I'm going back and forth.

874
00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,320
Speaker 1: There's some people who are saying, you know, switch everything,

875
00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 1: you know, get rid of brook Lopez, just play Jannis

876
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:24,279
Speaker 1: at the five. And they did that a little bit

877
00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,239
Speaker 1: towards the end. That's but then who who Who's the

878
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:29,400
Speaker 1: other guy? Is ConA? This is a problem, right, this

879
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:31,800
Speaker 1: is a problem, and and Dvicenzo, this is where you

880
00:40:31,880 --> 00:40:35,239
Speaker 1: see his the injury hurting them. Um, it's if I

881
00:40:35,360 --> 00:40:37,560
Speaker 1: what I think, and I'm an I'm an idiot, right,

882
00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:38,879
Speaker 1: but I think is I think they should go back

883
00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:41,320
Speaker 1: to their original coverage and just do the draw coverage

884
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 1: that we've all become experts on over the past month

885
00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:46,000
Speaker 1: or so, where they just they're not switching the screen,

886
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:49,960
Speaker 1: but they're really harassing the bull handlers, you know, true holiday,

887
00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:51,759
Speaker 1: let's say over the screen and have brook Lopez just

888
00:40:51,800 --> 00:40:54,439
Speaker 1: come a couple of steps over higher up, maybe close

889
00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:57,200
Speaker 1: to the falline, and try and stay home on the

890
00:40:57,320 --> 00:40:59,799
Speaker 1: three and just hope the math benefits that way and

891
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:01,959
Speaker 1: you cape be a little more dynamic. But but isn't

892
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,120
Speaker 1: that playing into the Sun's strength. I mean, Paul and

893
00:41:04,160 --> 00:41:07,520
Speaker 1: Book are mid range, are sure for sure. It's it's

894
00:41:07,560 --> 00:41:10,640
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to do something right, and I would

895
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,720
Speaker 1: so I wouldn't like, I wouldn't do the thing where

896
00:41:12,800 --> 00:41:16,000
Speaker 1: you know you're completely gifting them looks in the mid range.

897
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:17,399
Speaker 1: You know you want to make it hard for them.

898
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:21,200
Speaker 1: But I would say the idea of Chris Paul being

899
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:24,040
Speaker 1: able to isolate on brock Lopez regularly, and I imagine

900
00:41:24,080 --> 00:41:26,279
Speaker 1: what Buonholzer liked about that is just will play one

901
00:41:26,280 --> 00:41:27,719
Speaker 1: on one and that's fine. There are some things where

902
00:41:27,719 --> 00:41:29,239
Speaker 1: they messed up. If you watch the game, you see

903
00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,439
Speaker 1: clips like they'd switch and then they'd also help out

904
00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:34,040
Speaker 1: off three point shooters. And if you're like, if you're

905
00:41:34,040 --> 00:41:36,480
Speaker 1: switching the bed is we're gonna make you hit a

906
00:41:36,520 --> 00:41:38,920
Speaker 1: tough shot in isolation. You're not supposed to be helping

907
00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:40,759
Speaker 1: like that. And so some of those things, some of

908
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:44,040
Speaker 1: their um their discipline is a loft and I don't

909
00:41:44,040 --> 00:41:45,480
Speaker 1: know if that's switching is a little new to them.

910
00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,920
Speaker 1: I don't know. Um and again, the other part is like,

911
00:41:48,040 --> 00:41:49,759
Speaker 1: let's see what happens if Jana Stram's up. He was

912
00:41:49,760 --> 00:41:51,560
Speaker 1: really good, considering he missed a bunch of games, but

913
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:53,160
Speaker 1: he was not a hundred percent. You could see it.

914
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 1: He played great, but he was not you know, an offense.

915
00:41:55,280 --> 00:41:57,239
Speaker 1: Especially he was not attacking the way he normally does.

916
00:41:57,320 --> 00:41:59,120
Speaker 1: And you do that and you limit. The last thing

917
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,280
Speaker 1: I mentioned is foul if out. They usually don't foult

918
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,000
Speaker 1: on a lot, and they gave up too many foul

919
00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:05,359
Speaker 1: shots to Phoenix and that's a big difference there too.

920
00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,960
Speaker 1: I did text someone this morning, Um, you know what

921
00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:13,839
Speaker 1: about what Budenholzer tries zone? And you know again, like

922
00:42:14,200 --> 00:42:16,840
Speaker 1: how can you zone Devin Booker? The guy's incredible, but

923
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:20,279
Speaker 1: flashing some zone keeps Chris Paul out of the mid

924
00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: range because when he gets in the middle, dude, it

925
00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:24,160
Speaker 1: was it was over. It was like lob to eighton

926
00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:26,120
Speaker 1: pull up or I'm just gonna go all the way

927
00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:27,920
Speaker 1: to the room, you know, and Booker would just get

928
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:29,759
Speaker 1: to the foul and every time. So I I'd be

929
00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:31,560
Speaker 1: curious if we see any zone from the Bucks and

930
00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:34,080
Speaker 1: game too, thought, well the answer might be just also

931
00:42:34,160 --> 00:42:36,000
Speaker 1: like just mix up a little bit there. Don't let

932
00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:38,279
Speaker 1: them get comfortable. It might be there. Especially Paul is

933
00:42:38,320 --> 00:42:40,160
Speaker 1: too good to just play the same coverage for an

934
00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 1: entire game, little little entire selling game series, right, So

935
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:46,120
Speaker 1: that might be the answer to mix things up. And

936
00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,200
Speaker 1: it's all lineup, depending too, in terms of when who

937
00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:51,200
Speaker 1: you're playing and when you're playing. Alright, he is your

938
00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:54,120
Speaker 1: own Whitesman. You can find his stuff on Fox sports

939
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:57,000
Speaker 1: dot com. He wrote, how many places have you written

940
00:42:57,000 --> 00:43:00,719
Speaker 1: I feel like I around the NBA blocks. Yeah, let's

941
00:43:00,719 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 1: we do the freelance thing. You gotta go. Yeah, hunting,

942
00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:05,279
Speaker 1: you gotta go huntings have too many people account But now,

943
00:43:05,320 --> 00:43:06,719
Speaker 1: how do you like, By the way, how do you

944
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:11,000
Speaker 1: like freelance? I like I am much happier have being

945
00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:12,920
Speaker 1: a single home now. And I'm not just saying that

946
00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:15,799
Speaker 1: because we are on a Fox Sports podcast here, right,

947
00:43:15,800 --> 00:43:18,800
Speaker 1: but it is h I mean, there's there's the benefit

948
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:20,040
Speaker 1: is you pick what you want, right, You get to

949
00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:22,160
Speaker 1: write what you want because if there's no boss, right,

950
00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 1: you can turn down anything you want. And that's fine. Um,

951
00:43:24,760 --> 00:43:29,760
Speaker 1: let's say the numbers. Um. Sorry, the math doesn't financially

952
00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:31,879
Speaker 1: doesn't quite add up in terms of the work you're

953
00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:33,840
Speaker 1: putting in so all right man. Well, hey, thanks for

954
00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:36,120
Speaker 1: taking the time, and try to enjoy Game two and

955
00:43:36,520 --> 00:43:39,120
Speaker 1: the series and the draft and free agency and I'm

956
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:40,920
Speaker 1: sure we'll have you back. Thanks for having me. I

957
00:43:40,920 --> 00:43:41,560
Speaker 1: appreciate it.