WEBVTT - Damian Lillard returns to Portland and Doc Rivers does Doc Rivers things 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.400 On this episode of The Heat Check. It's been an 0:00:12.400 --> 0:00:15.400 emotional a couple of days. Honestly, it's a sobfest for me. 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:18.840 Last night and this morning when we started to go 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:22.680 back towards the legacy and the time that it has 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:28.040 been watching Damian Lillard in Portland. He returned two nights ago. 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:31.040 I will explain why it's been a sob fest. The 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.600 sixty five game rule is now causing havoc across the league. 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:37.520 I think everyone except for Magic Johnson is fucking pissed 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.920 about it. I will get into some news from around 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.320 the league, by the way, like Magic's tweets are not 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:45.720 him right, Like that's that's Ai, that's Chad gbt anyway, 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:48.240 news from around the league, including Darvin Ham and whether 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.680 he's gonna get fired, whether his seat is hot right now. 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.880 And we, of course, because it's Friday, get Trist's killer 0:00:55.120 --> 0:00:57.320 crazy ass stat of the week, which is a wild 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:00.320 one this time around. Gotta fix these fucking my Rain's 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.440 Anthony so my man dropped that motherfucking beat. 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:04.440 It should be Rhianna. 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:18.759 I thought about this all day yesterday, two days ago. 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:21.880 I guess because you're getting missed tomorrow in the future, 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:25.560 as I was fighting off a migrant. It's confusing. It's 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:30.040 something that's been on my mind for a while since 0:01:30.120 --> 0:01:33.720 the trade happened as a lifelong Trail Blazer fan, and 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:37.839 it hit me again as I watched the press conference 0:01:38.040 --> 0:01:42.760 and I watched the opening tribute video and all the 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:48.840 fanfare around Dame's return is like, Damn, I miss I 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:49.520 missed Dame. 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:50.360 I do. 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.920 I didn't want to say it out loud. Kind of 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:57.880 makes me a little bit of a bitch. I miss 0:01:58.600 --> 0:02:02.000 everything that I had with Dame Lillard. I don't miss 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.640 the lack of defense, I guess, but like everything else, 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:12.280 the hard pound, jab step step back three, I missed 0:02:12.320 --> 0:02:16.880 that guy in my building. All the feelings came washing 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:20.560 over me again. Wednesday night, Damian Lillard returned to Portland 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:22.840 for the first time since he was traded this past season. 0:02:22.840 --> 0:02:25.240 He didn't even know where the fucking visitor's locker room was. 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:32.080 That was heart wrenching, Like I really miss him, I 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:37.440 really miss knowing there's a moment where this man couldn't 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:42.840 put up seventy on my for my team, in my building, 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:48.960 in my po dunk city on the water, in that 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.760 rivertown that's industrial as fuck where it rains like nine 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.240 months of the year. And you know what, that man 0:02:55.400 --> 0:03:00.120 gave his all for my shit city. I love portl 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:03.919 I love Dame, and no one loved it like he did. 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:08.760 I miss Dame time, I miss the ticking of his 0:03:08.840 --> 0:03:13.399 finger on his fake watch in the game. But it's 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:16.600 no more, no longer a Blazer. He's off in Milwaukee 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:22.400 doing his thing, and as a Dame psychologist, a Damologist, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:27.000 as they would say, somebody actually whose whole career, my 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:31.359 career has coincided with Dame's career. My first year covering 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:35.119 the league was Dame's first year in the league, and 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:40.120 obviously he's the most intriguing player of my career, of 0:03:40.120 --> 0:03:43.000 my lifetime. He's the best Blazer of all time, and 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:50.480 so coincided with my rise in the business. He says 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:54.560 he's happy in Milwaukee. He does, but outside, like when 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:58.400 you start asking him about the like non basketball elements 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:01.400 of the job, I would say he's not very stoked 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:06.760 basketball park quite stoked playing with Gianna's bunch of vets. 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:12.640 Outside of that, not super stoked, body language, demeanor's lack 0:04:12.680 --> 0:04:17.240 of full smile when they he smiles the biggest when 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:21.200 they ask him about Portland. That's when he goes ear 0:04:21.240 --> 0:04:24.240 to ear. Hey, Dame, what's it like to be in 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.800 the visitor's locker room? Was it weird for you? Cheez 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:31.279 smile ear to ear, Yes, it was. I don't even 0:04:31.279 --> 0:04:35.000 know where I'm supposed to go. He wishes he was 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:38.880 still hooping in Portland, no doubt. He wishes he was 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.760 with the family. He brought his whole family to the compound. 0:04:43.040 --> 0:04:46.599 I think there's like forty people living there, plus his kids. 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:52.719 He misses them after shoot around, after practice, after his lift, 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:54.840 like he gets to go and, as he would say, 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.159 get full from his people. But no, now he's probably 0:04:58.160 --> 0:05:01.640 in some random one bedroom palatial condo in the middle 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.880 of Milwaukee with like nobody. If you listen to what 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:11.080 Dame said before his return, here's some of the quotes 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:16.680 that I thought, were you get some sort of feeling 0:05:16.680 --> 0:05:19.600 of Catharsis or closure by playing in this game, like 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:21.520 sort of checking the box off of playing here as 0:05:21.520 --> 0:05:22.040 a visitor. 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:25.320 No, I wouldn't. I wouldn't say that. I think. 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.760 My my relationship to the city and the fans here, 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:34.400 the organization, I think is just it's never ending, you know. 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:36.920 I don't look at it as closure or anything like that. 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.120 I just I just know that it's something that you know, 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:44.159 is it doesn't happen often, you know, to come into 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.720 a city as a draft pick, to be able to 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.159 have so many accomplishments, to have a good relationship with 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:55.880 the fans, a good relationship with the organization, to experience 0:05:55.920 --> 0:05:57.320 a lot of success, you know, a lot of the 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.120 things that I experienced here. 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:01.440 I know that it is is gonna always be a 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:01.839 part of me. 0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:04.200 You know, it's gonna be it's gonna be a huge 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.080 part of my legacy and what I've been able to 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:08.840 accomplish as a man, as an athlete. 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:11.200 So that's not something. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.560 That I'm that I'm ever gonna say, oh, I'm gonna 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:16.039 have closure on it. You know, it always be a 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:18.680 part of me, because everything that I've said, you know. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.520 How I felt about my time, I'm in it. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:23.760 So it's not you know, it's no reason to say, oh, 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.080 this is closure and putting it behind me or anything 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:28.480 like that. You know, it's it's a huge part of 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:30.960 my journey, and it's an important part of my journey. 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.840 So I'll you know, I'll always appreciate that and I'll 0:06:33.880 --> 0:06:35.640 always you know, hold that close to me, and I 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.799 don't think anything other than that is necessary. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:45.720 No closure necessary because the chapter is not closed. Dame, 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.679 any chance you'll come and play for Portland again because 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:52.600 of how I feel about Portland, how I feel about 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:54.960 the organization here, in my time that I spent here. 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:57.479 In my mind, I always felt like that's how my 0:06:57.560 --> 0:07:01.440 career would end. Yeah, blah blah blah. I'm in Milwaukee now, 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.279 I'm focused on the present blah blah blah, contending for 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.120 years to come searching for a ring. But I do 0:07:07.200 --> 0:07:09.320 see a day we're all be in a Trailblazer's uniform 0:07:09.360 --> 0:07:13.480 again before I'm done. This isn't a relationship that he 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.440 wants closure on. This is like when you date somebody 0:07:17.520 --> 0:07:19.360 and you guys have to go off and do your 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.800 own thing. They've got to go to law school. You're 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:25.200 changing careers, you're following your passion. Maybe you were an 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:27.720 accountant and now you want to be I don't know, 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.920 like a general contractor for a design company. I don't know. 0:07:32.160 --> 0:07:34.200 You guys got to go your separate ways, but in 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.760 the end, you want to make each other, you want 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.560 to get back to one another. That's Dame in Portland. 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.880 They want to get back to one another. So do 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.320 you need closure? Do you need that last final call 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:47.080 to be like, where did it all go wrong? No, 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:50.960 nothing went wrong. I want this, you want that. We 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:53.560 can't do it together right now. We'll see each other 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.840 in like five years. And then you ask him, like, 0:07:56.840 --> 0:08:00.960 what's it like in Milwaukee. Of course he's like, I 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.680 love playing with the honest, But first, it's been a 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:08.440 massive transition, he said. It has been a very tough 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.640 struggle to be without all the things that I like, 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:16.080 being around my family, my kids, my house, my commute, 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:19.080 the facility that I was used to. All of those 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:22.600 things had me crying in the club. You listen to 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:27.880 Dame again and I just get immediately a little teary eyed, 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:32.360 a little stuffed up. It's sad because there's like only 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.520 one player in my lifetime I've ever seen love a 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:39.560 city ever this much. It's like not the same with 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.040 every athlete. They get drafted, they come and do their job. 0:08:42.080 --> 0:08:45.200 They probably force their a trade somewhere else when they're unhappier, 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:47.400 they don't get what they want. The only player that 0:08:47.480 --> 0:08:52.320 comes close to the Dame scenario is Kevin Garnett. Wanted 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:54.560 to stay in Minnesota, felt like he couldn't get it 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:58.960 done there. Wanted to own the team, felt absolutely gutted 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.320 when they would not say him. The team went back 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.600 to Minnesota to finish his career. It was like the 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:09.280 final abort button that was in glass, encased in glass, 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.240 encased in Moore glass. Did not want to push the button, 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:16.760 had to push the button, did not want to what's 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.920 crying when he pushed it? Dame said to Brook Oldenholzer. 0:09:21.000 --> 0:09:22.880 She asked him like, and he said, listen, there are 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:27.480 sometimes decisions you must make that even you hurt yourself 0:09:27.600 --> 0:09:30.880 in making in the process. You can see the pain 0:09:31.040 --> 0:09:38.080 on this man's face. Not even Damon Stodemeyer. David Startmer 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:41.120 grew up in my little town, my little Rivertown, played 0:09:41.120 --> 0:09:43.640 for the Blazers. He didn't give a shit about our team. 0:09:43.800 --> 0:09:46.520 You didn't care. We had him come to our middle 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:49.080 school to say stuff to us. He showed up. I 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:52.560 think late, like by days. Do you think Dame Willard 0:09:52.600 --> 0:09:56.360 doesn't No, Dave as Milwaukee Bucks comes back to Harriet 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.040 tub in middle school right now. In fact, he is 0:09:59.120 --> 0:10:02.320 so important to city, so important as a player that 0:10:02.440 --> 0:10:06.679 Adidas named a building after him in Portland on the 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.640 week that he came back for the first time, and 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.360 they've never done that in the history and their entire building, 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:16.240 like the entire business. That's Dame. They played a two 0:10:16.240 --> 0:10:19.760 minute video they did Laditas did it, and then the 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:22.040 Blazers did it, and it made me a wreck. It 0:10:22.080 --> 0:10:25.719 was every moment that we remember. It was rip City 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.560 after he hit that big shot against the Houston Rockets, 0:10:29.800 --> 0:10:34.520 it was the Bye Bye wave, it was his whole team, Mobbingham. 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:38.440 I remember every moment that those were and where I 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:41.120 was in the process. I remember walking around the streets 0:10:41.160 --> 0:10:45.600 of Nashville, Tennessee before the NFL Draft, waving by bye 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.480 to everyone I saw. I thought that was gonna be 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.720 the year. Are we going to be able to stand 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.720 up and punch Golden State in the fucking mouth and 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.679 win a championship. I felt like we could do anything. 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:03.200 The Game seven against the Denver Nuggets, where I was 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:07.360 in Bali, Indonesia, I had to set my alarm for 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.120 like three or four in the morning just so that 0:11:11.200 --> 0:11:13.920 I could watch that. Fell back asleep. Had to buy 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.880 a VPN because they won't let you watch it over there, 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.880 just so I could listen to Evan Turner go fucking crazy, 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.640 knowing that they would trade him, CJ going nuts, Meyers 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:28.760 Leonard going nuts. Then going back to Portland after BALI 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.679 just to see him in the Western Conference Finals in 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:35.319 my fucking city with all my people who helped me 0:11:35.400 --> 0:11:37.360 get to that place in my career, where I could 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:41.480 come in there with the media pass. That was game 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:48.319 anyway to the game, because that's what's important too, Right, 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:51.040 How did he play? How did the Blazers play? The 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:54.160 game ended pretty fucking exciting. Blazers took a ten point 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:56.800 fourth quarter lead. I think we were like fifteen point 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.520 dogs to the Milwaukee Bucks. Something crazy. I mean, they 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:01.600 should have been eat our ass, right, should have beat 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:04.640 their ass. And the Bucks cut into it in the 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:08.840 final minutes until Day made a steal, threw an alley 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.680 oop to Giannis dunked for a one point Bucks lead. 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:17.040 Then Anthony Simons did his best Damian Lillard impression drove 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:19.600 down into the lane for a floater hit the go ahead. 0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.560 The Bucks took it over with seventeen seconds left. The 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:25.439 best that they could come up with was a Brook 0:12:25.679 --> 0:12:29.200 Lopez thirty footer which missed two free throws. Later, the 0:12:29.200 --> 0:12:31.439 Blazers had a three point lead with five point one 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:36.079 seconds left, the Bucks were out of timeouts. Blazers bailed 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:39.480 them out, calling a timeout, And this is where we 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:44.040 get Doc Rivers. This is where the Doc Rivers character 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:47.480 comes right into the plotline. He had plenty of time 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.200 to call a play, and you would think anybody, I mean, 0:12:51.240 --> 0:12:54.520 you just heard a whole soliloquy about Dame. Who does 0:12:54.640 --> 0:12:58.120 the ball go to when it's Dame time? When it's 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:02.480 Dame time, who does the ball go to? Yannest? No, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.240 it goes to Dame. But what did Doc do? Doc said, 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:09.120 when they zig zag, Dame takes the ball out of 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:15.120 bounce and gives the ball to Janice. Yes, Jannie, the 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.640 guy who can barely make seventy percent of his free throws. 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.720 That man needed to hit one hundred percent of his 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.840 first free throw in order for this plan to work. 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:30.080 After the game, they asked Doc, why'd you fucking do that? 0:13:30.480 --> 0:13:36.840 And this is what he said, what about that man? 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:44.080 Yeah, four seconds you know, we anticipate they're gonna file someone. 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.560 We actually if we could get Giannis make the first 0:13:46.559 --> 0:13:50.080 one and then his ability with no one in front 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:52.240 of him to miss the second one. We liked our 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.280 chances on a misfree throw because that's what we're going 0:13:54.360 --> 0:13:54.800 to look for. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:55.760 Doc. 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:04.319 Yeah, oh, Doc, no oh, we liked our chances. We 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:07.800 knew he could. Like, we're hoping he makes the first 0:14:07.800 --> 0:14:11.520 one and then gets his own rebound for the second 0:14:11.600 --> 0:14:14.080 one when there's guys behind the three point line that 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.800 are gonna be crashing the glass to get that rebound. 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:20.160 You really believe that, Doc? That's the most hair brain 0:14:20.280 --> 0:14:23.160 Doc Rivers thing. What this is like kind of a troll, right, 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:27.080 Doc doesn't really believe that. He will never say, you 0:14:27.120 --> 0:14:29.400 know what, that was a bad call by me. It 0:14:29.480 --> 0:14:33.200 made no sense. This is coming on the heels of 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:38.240 Doc Rivers saying that he wouldn't wish coaching this Bucks 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:41.160 team on anyone. I can tell you that just from 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.320 a day and a half, this is gonna be a challenge. 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:45.880 What you mean the team that's number two in the East, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.600 second best record in the NBA. You mean that team? 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:52.760 You think you wouldn't wish that challenge on anyone? No, No, 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:57.240 I wouldn't wish that challenge on you, sir. I wouldn't 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:01.400 wish you to have that job. This is the worst 0:15:01.400 --> 0:15:06.520 possible situation for Dame. Someone good enough, with enough pedigree, enough, 0:15:06.800 --> 0:15:11.000 with enough reputation high enough to not be fired despite 0:15:11.360 --> 0:15:15.000 his mediocrity, and not anywhere good enough for Dame to 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:18.240 win a chip and come on home. And you know 0:15:18.400 --> 0:15:23.080 this man, you know this, which is fine. I guess 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:25.120 Dame's gonna be looking to get out of Milwaukee at 0:15:25.120 --> 0:15:26.800 the same time, Shadon and Scoot and AFRENI, you are 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:29.280 gonna be heading to the finals. That's my team, right 0:15:29.320 --> 0:15:32.080 dere every but he's going down. My team's on to 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:35.040 come up. And then Dame will be like thirty seven, 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:39.960 he plays twenty five minutes a game like Carmelo Anthony 0:15:39.960 --> 0:15:42.600 did in his final years, and then he will get 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.520 a chip in the one place that he actually wants 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.920 to win it more than any other place. Portland, Oregon. 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:52.240 Shout out to Dame. I love this man, greatest human 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:55.000 to ever put on a jersey in my city. We 0:15:55.080 --> 0:15:58.040 love you right back, brother, We always will, we always have. 0:15:58.600 --> 0:16:04.680 I'm sorry for all the means. All right, let's move on. 0:16:05.760 --> 0:16:08.840 Last episode, we dug into a new rule in the 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.920 NBA dictating that you must play sixty five games in 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.680 order to be eligible for the major awards like MVP, 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.680 but also all NBA, which is, as you may know, 0:16:19.040 --> 0:16:22.120 tied to many star player contracts. Turns out that the 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.280 worst possible thing that could have happened in the two 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:28.600 days since that pod dropped Joel Embiid, who at that 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:30.760 point and still at this point, could only miss a 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:32.600 handful of games in order to be eligible to win 0:16:32.600 --> 0:16:37.640 the MVP, seems to have I don't know why forced 0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.680 himself into a lineup to play against the Golden State 0:16:40.720 --> 0:16:44.600 Warriors in a nationally televised game, probably because of public pressure, 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:46.240 people saying that he was a pussy and a bitch 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:49.040 or whatever, you know, whatever mean things people say. And 0:16:49.120 --> 0:16:52.320 guess what, and guess what. It didn't work out well. 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.800 He had to leave the game due to re injuring 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.960 his knee, as I've said so gracefully before. 0:17:01.320 --> 0:17:01.840 Right row. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:06.760 After the game, an anonymous Sixers executive told The Athletic 0:17:06.760 --> 0:17:10.120 that Embiide had been dealing with left's knee soreness all 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:13.600 season and that his late exit from the game, where 0:17:13.640 --> 0:17:16.080 he was clearly not okay all night because he was 0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:21.639 battered and bruised before February even arrived. This is this 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:26.840 is bad here's the problem. Janni sits. He's duck in 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.800 Superstar matchups. He doesn't want to play against Jokic. He's 0:17:29.840 --> 0:17:32.199 a bitch. All he wants to do is rack up 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:35.440 these meaningless numbers against these meaningless teams. If he plays 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:39.720 through injury risks, injuring himself. Oh, he's egotistical. He's chasing 0:17:39.800 --> 0:17:41.879 dumb awards that don't really matter. He just wants to 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:44.480 get the MVP again. He wants to out best Jokich again. 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:48.040 He's duck in Jokic and trying to out best Jokic, 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.400 not worrying about the thing that matters most AKA competing 0:17:51.400 --> 0:17:54.960 for a championship. That's a lose lose situation. Brother, and 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:57.720 B deserves better than this. And B deserves better than 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:02.680 this dumbass discourse, especially considering that we know that Joel 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:06.119 Embiid is not like faking it. Joel Embiid has not 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:08.879 ever been one hundred percent healthy in his entire career 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.960 since he's entered the NBA. How many games has Joel 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:14.840 Emid ever played sixty five games in his career? Why 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:16.800 did we think he was playing sixty five games now? 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:20.360 Just because like someone said, you must, Joel Embiid, you 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.960 must play sixty five games. We will make it so 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:26.800 like we think that that's just gonna like work. You 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:31.439 think this man was sitting out for no reason. What 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.159 I mean, you're pushing this man to play past his 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.080 physical limits that we know he has, which is fifty games. 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:41.120 Joel Embiid's limit is fifty games plus then the playoffs 0:18:41.119 --> 0:18:43.119 where he might end up getting injured, so he's probably 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.639 forty games. Okay, So it's every other game Joel Embid 0:18:46.640 --> 0:18:49.720 should play and be fucking thankful for those games because 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:55.800 this is the best basketball we've ever seen Joel Embiid play. Also, 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:58.400 he plays like shit in Golden State, plays like shit 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:01.639 for two against whoever was before them. And then it 0:19:01.680 --> 0:19:04.119 was like, we're not talking about the pressure being placed 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:06.640 on him and this dumb ass rule. We're talking about 0:19:06.640 --> 0:19:09.080 how fat Joel Embiid is. Not me. I didn't say that, 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:10.840 but there's plenty of people on Twitter being like, oh, well, 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:13.399 if Joel Embiid wasn't just such a fucking fatty, and 0:19:13.400 --> 0:19:15.520 then maybe he would stay in shape and maybe he 0:19:15.560 --> 0:19:18.000 would be able to like stay healthy through these sixty 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:22.760 five games. They're like comparing Joel Embiid Desigon Williamson, like 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.160 Joel Embiid didn't just win an MVP last year. It's 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:29.600 absolutely insane. This is, by all intents and purposes, fucked up. 0:19:30.600 --> 0:19:35.040 The discourse around Joel Embid is unbelievable. He one hundred 0:19:35.040 --> 0:19:37.359 percent needs to sit out until he is one hundred 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:42.480 percent healthy again, but these stupid rules made him feel pressured. 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:45.480 And not just the rules, the people saying, oh, you know, 0:19:45.600 --> 0:19:47.080 Joel Embid, you're not gonna be able to get win 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.000 an MVP and you're playing so well and like blahlah 0:19:49.000 --> 0:19:51.080 blah blah, and like yo doesn't only miss one game, 0:19:51.119 --> 0:19:52.760 and you are a pussy, so you need to play 0:19:52.800 --> 0:19:57.640 through this game. What? Like? No, Joel Embiid is now 0:19:57.680 --> 0:20:00.000 being reported that his ability to be at his best 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:04.480 from here on out is in serious question. You motherfuckers 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.240 are the reason that we're not gonna be able to 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:08.560 see Joel and be put up seventy three again. You 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.280 fuckers are the reason that we're not gonna be able 0:20:11.320 --> 0:20:14.480 to see Joel andb splash middies all day every day 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.240 and me make money betting on him to score forty 0:20:17.640 --> 0:20:23.400 You guys, you dummies, You magic lauding the sixty five 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:28.800 game rule, and and let's be honest, Adam Silver, you're 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:32.320 at fault. You're at fault, money grab feeling like the 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:35.199 economics don't make sense. The people who you're talking to 0:20:35.280 --> 0:20:37.720 and negotiating right now for these rights deals, they want 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:39.760 the sixty five games because they think that the sport 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:42.560 is being wided down because they don't like load management. 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.200 Ah so if you put this rule in, you're gonna 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:50.040 like squeeze an extra few billion dollars out of Apple TV. Congratulations, 0:20:50.040 --> 0:20:56.159 Now you get to watch Julia McLoughlin, who exactly Also 0:20:56.320 --> 0:20:58.760 Tyree Aliburton seems to hate these new rules as well. 0:20:58.960 --> 0:21:01.639 He says, I think it's a stupid rule, like playing 0:21:01.680 --> 0:21:03.879 the guys in the league, But this is what owners want. 0:21:04.400 --> 0:21:06.600 So as players, we got to do our job and 0:21:06.640 --> 0:21:09.280 playing sixty five games if we're able to. So that's 0:21:09.280 --> 0:21:11.119 what I gotta do. Got to take care of my 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:12.840 body to be able to play in these games. And 0:21:12.880 --> 0:21:15.120 I think you're seeing other players in the league kind 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.760 of face the same thing. As long as the owners 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:21.800 are happy, right whoo. As long as the owners are happy, right, 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:25.960 shots fired. Even Draymond Green is upset. I mean, he's 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:30.920 probably always upset, although he's mistake games due to not injury, 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:33.880 mostly the Tom foolery. Here's what he had to say 0:21:33.920 --> 0:21:34.760 on his podcast. 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:38.639 Joel playing tonight felt very much so because of the 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.600 sixty five game limit, where I think it's actually quite bullshit. 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:47.160 Guys didn't face those rules before. But those same NBA teams, 0:21:47.280 --> 0:21:51.720 those same MVP awards, list defensive Player of the Year, 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:55.400 those lists are the same. I once lost a Defensive 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:57.639 Player of the Year award to Kawhi Leonard, and. 0:21:57.680 --> 0:21:59.320 I think he played fifty one games. 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:04.679 In turn, you get Joel who comes out there tonight 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:09.120 and he forces it and freak play with him and 0:22:09.560 --> 0:22:13.720 JK diving for the ball. But maybe it's not as 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:16.160 bad if the knee isn't already banged up. I don't 0:22:16.160 --> 0:22:18.520 really bang with it. And now we got one of 0:22:18.560 --> 0:22:22.600 our premier faces in this league, the MVP of our league, 0:22:25.160 --> 0:22:29.040 possibly hurt for an extended period of time because he's 0:22:29.119 --> 0:22:29.680 forcing it. 0:22:31.640 --> 0:22:34.760 Because he's forcing it, not a good solution to this. 0:22:34.800 --> 0:22:36.440 Players are always gonna want to do what they think 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:39.120 is necessary to avoid being injured, which I mean, let's 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:41.359 be honest, it's not just the fact that these guys 0:22:41.359 --> 0:22:44.399 are missing time. It's the fact that they're in a 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.840 lot of pain and aren't able to be I don't know, 0:22:47.040 --> 0:22:50.720 mobile like a normal human being. Owners in the league 0:22:50.760 --> 0:22:52.959 won't always do what they need to do to have 0:22:53.000 --> 0:22:54.960 their star players on the floor as much as possible. 0:22:55.200 --> 0:22:59.760 Turns out like we're diametrically opposed, when really the players 0:22:59.800 --> 0:23:01.439 want the same thing that the owners do. I just 0:23:01.480 --> 0:23:02.960 want to be healthy so that I can play the game, 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:04.840 you know what I mean. The problem is, and nobody's 0:23:04.840 --> 0:23:08.439