Speaker 1: Welcome to This League Uncut in the world of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA news. Just do you lose Chris Haines,
Speaker 1: it's time, Mark Stein, It's show time. Woo shuklaka Chris
Speaker 1: Hanes and Mark Stein. This link uncutt is underway and
Speaker 1: then fire. This should be a good one. Haines and Stein.
Speaker 1: Back again with another good one. Back again with another
Speaker 1: episode of This League Uncut. Chris, you were in Minneapolis
Speaker 1: on Tuesday night. Joel Embiid put on another show and
Speaker 1: we're over We're over due for some Eastern conference talk
Speaker 1: on this podcast, and your interview with him certainly got
Speaker 1: people talking. Let's actually listen to some of that first
Speaker 1: MVPs Defensive Day All the Year. Yeah, I doesn't you
Speaker 1: know what I mean anything to me. I'm just still
Speaker 1: gonna be the best bell on the floor. That's a
Speaker 1: nice segue to my question that you know that's coming. Joe.
Speaker 1: There is a he did debate out there about who's
Speaker 1: the front runner for the MVP Award. So I want
Speaker 1: your unbiased opinion, who do you feel is the favorite
Speaker 1: in the front runner right now? I don't know, that's
Speaker 1: not for me to answer. I feel like you know,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously being in the running the last few years,
Speaker 1: you know has been whatever. And you know this year,
Speaker 1: you know, I've taken a different appostion. She's trying to
Speaker 1: focus on the white things. Uh, you know, win games, dominate, Uh,
Speaker 1: which I've been doing, and whatever happens happens. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: obviously who would have loved to you know, win one.
Speaker 1: That's the you know, the best award anyone anyone can get.
Speaker 1: So but like I said, I'm just focused on making sure,
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, staying healthy, winning games, and dominating.
Speaker 1: I love how you put the question right too. In
Speaker 1: full court press from Freds though there because we all
Speaker 1: want to know what he's what he's thinking on this
Speaker 1: MVP stuff. He knew it was coming, so there was
Speaker 1: a okay, what was it towards the end. So towards
Speaker 1: the end of the third quarter, he goes back to
Speaker 1: the locker room and he just runs him to the back,
Speaker 1: and so producers in my ear during the game, hey
Speaker 1: go check on MB. So I go back there and
Speaker 1: I'm waiting for I'm waiting for him for probably about man,
Speaker 1: it seems it seemed long. It seemed like a long time.
Speaker 1: Probably about five minutes. Then I heard he was using
Speaker 1: the bathroom, and then somebody told me he usually goes
Speaker 1: that's like a routine of his, like towards the end
Speaker 1: of the third quarter, he'll go in the back and
Speaker 1: like get some oxygen or do whatever he does. I
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what he does. And so I'm like, okay,
Speaker 1: So I figured I'll just wait out, just wait him out,
Speaker 1: And so as he comes out, he's like chopping it
Speaker 1: up with me. We're actually having a conversation as he's
Speaker 1: walking back up to the walking back inside of the
Speaker 1: side of the red only you, because that is not
Speaker 1: normal Sidehind reported to walk and talk in the middle
Speaker 1: of the game. Yeah, look, it was. It wasn't like
Speaker 1: an interview. He was asking me what game I got next,
Speaker 1: and I told him I think I might be in
Speaker 1: um La in a few weeks. And he was like, oh,
Speaker 1: he's still giving you know, Lakers still getting getting all
Speaker 1: the love or something like that. It was just something
Speaker 1: like like it was just like small chat stuff and
Speaker 1: we were just talking and so um I said, hey,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have you because at that point, Sixers were
Speaker 1: up a pretty sizeable lead on the Timberwolves. I said, hey,
Speaker 1: i'm gonna have you for the walk off interview. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna ask you about the MVP that he just smiled.
Speaker 1: He's like, all right, I'll be ready and so that
Speaker 1: So that's that's what that's why when I alluded to
Speaker 1: it in the interview, I said, Okay, you know what's coming,
Speaker 1: and here it is. So that's how it's all set up.
Speaker 1: You know, when you listen to him, he somewhat sounds
Speaker 1: resigned that it's already out of his grasp. I actually
Speaker 1: doesn't think it's out of his grasp yet. That's what
Speaker 1: I got at. That's what that's what I took away
Speaker 1: from it. He didn't say it, but he seems like
Speaker 1: he can sense that the votes are going in the
Speaker 1: direction of most likely the Joker, and so he wanted
Speaker 1: to make it clear that, Okay, I have no control
Speaker 1: over the votes, but what I do have control over
Speaker 1: is my play. And you know, I think he made
Speaker 1: a strong statement right there, saying, no matter who he's
Speaker 1: playing against, he's always going to be the best player
Speaker 1: on the court, and I think that speaks volumes in
Speaker 1: and another. And look, Joe, he wants that MVP for
Speaker 1: sure he wants that MVP. I think last year he did,
Speaker 1: he did a little bit more campaigning. I think he's
Speaker 1: a little disappointed this year. I think he's disappointed with
Speaker 1: the narrative. You know, Joker's having a great, unbelievable season.
Speaker 1: Should he be the front runner? You know whatever. I
Speaker 1: think i'll vote this year. I chose not to last year,
Speaker 1: but I think I will this year. And so I
Speaker 1: don't know which way I'm going as a right now,
Speaker 1: but I get the sense that embiid is kind of
Speaker 1: like just disappointed with the process and the narrative that's
Speaker 1: taking place, and and and I think that way he
Speaker 1: said that Stein to also get voters to kind of
Speaker 1: look at him a little bit more, with him saying
Speaker 1: I'm always I'm gonna be the best player on the court.
Speaker 1: Oh you are, huh okay, Well let's see. I want
Speaker 1: to say, let me look at the schedule. I'll let
Speaker 1: you talk best. I think sixers have one more about
Speaker 1: with the nuggets they do. I'm a check right now.
Speaker 1: I'm a check right now. But go ahead, you go
Speaker 1: go ahead and take over. There's lots to unpack her
Speaker 1: because this hits on fifteen different things that First of all,
Speaker 1: I think i've I've told you this before. I don't
Speaker 1: know if I've said it on the pod before, but
Speaker 1: I've definitely I wrote about it even at the time.
Speaker 1: Um Joel Embiad is one of my favorite players to
Speaker 1: talk to. I love interviewing him. I love that he's
Speaker 1: he's edgy, he's all he's ready to talk. In the Bubble.
Speaker 1: One of my most memorable experiences in the Bubble was
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the Bubble. There were twenty two teams,
Speaker 1: which you remember well. There were so many games at
Speaker 1: the beginning that the games had to be played in
Speaker 1: three gyms at the start until they started narrowing the
Speaker 1: field down. And the Sixers played the Spurs in the smallest,
Speaker 1: the supposed least attractive of the three gyms, and there
Speaker 1: were only two reporters there. I'm not going to name
Speaker 1: the other reporter, but maybe i'll maybe I'll ask him
Speaker 1: and see if he didn't care later on, but there
Speaker 1: was only two of us there at this game. The
Speaker 1: Sixers won on a shake Milton buzzer beater. If I
Speaker 1: remember this correctly, and knowing me, you have to assume
Speaker 1: that I might be messing up some of these facts,
Speaker 1: but hopefully I'm remembering it right as I remember it.
Speaker 1: Shake Elton won the game on a buzzer beater. My
Speaker 1: only other press row colleague in the building left, which
Speaker 1: meant I had both teams to myself. Now. I went
Speaker 1: there thinking that it might be a chance to get
Speaker 1: Greg Popovich alone. But obviously, when the Spurs lose on
Speaker 1: a buzzer beater, that was not going to happen. But
Speaker 1: I was able to pull off a Chris Haynes like
Speaker 1: Sidal and I walked Joel. I walked Joel Embid to
Speaker 1: the Sixers team bus. I was not you were not
Speaker 1: supposed to based on the letter of the law in
Speaker 1: the bubble, But I said, you know what, I'm in
Speaker 1: the third gym. Nobody's here, nobody's watching. Screw it, I'm
Speaker 1: doing it. Had a great little interview with Joel on
Speaker 1: the way to the bush. He's a fantastic talker. He
Speaker 1: knows what he's doing. You're You're absolutely right. I think
Speaker 1: he knows what he's doing. He's trying to He's like
Speaker 1: campaigning without campaigning in that interview with you. But look,
Speaker 1: I he's I don't think it's been decided. I do think. Look,
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know how much we want to
Speaker 1: get into the MVP conversation because it's been so just
Speaker 1: it just gets worse and worse and worse in spirals
Speaker 1: to an uglier, uglier place. It has got, it has
Speaker 1: got ugliest. I've been looking at hey, I've been looking outside.
Speaker 1: You know, I haven't went outside. I don't play a
Speaker 1: vents ernolf and getting into those uh, those shenanigans out there.
Speaker 1: But I'm looking out there. I'm seeing all the talk.
Speaker 1: But uh, to the point we made yes, MB and
Speaker 1: Joker do meet one last time March twenty seventh, sixers
Speaker 1: in Denver, and here like I no longer vote. I
Speaker 1: mean you mentioned that you didn't vote last year, which
Speaker 1: I didn't even I didn't even know that. I have
Speaker 1: not voted since twenty seventeen, when the twenty seventeen awards
Speaker 1: were the last time I voted. My my the subsequent
Speaker 1: four seasons I was at the New York Times at
Speaker 1: the times we were not allowed to vote. And then
Speaker 1: I just decided, when I started my own substackt that
Speaker 1: I was going to continue on that path and not vote.
Speaker 1: And just you know, I still do a faux ballot
Speaker 1: that I print, and I still print out all my
Speaker 1: choices of who I would have voted, but I don't
Speaker 1: I don't cast a real ballot. But I've softened my
Speaker 1: position because I used to be very absolute about what
Speaker 1: MVP is, and you just have to realize that the
Speaker 1: reality is everybody is almost invited to just see this
Speaker 1: the way they want to see it. There are no
Speaker 1: strict rules and criteria from the league. The way I've
Speaker 1: always done it and the way I think a lot
Speaker 1: of old school writers do it. It's a best season award.
Speaker 1: And that's why you know when Nash won the MVP
Speaker 1: in his first season in Phoenix is because they went
Speaker 1: from twenty nine wins to sixty two and he was
Speaker 1: the driving force. It's not because he had better stats
Speaker 1: than Shaquille O'Neil. That's why Steve Nash won. I think
Speaker 1: Steve's second MVPs the more controversial one and the one
Speaker 1: that probably pissed Shock off more. But look, Yokich won
Speaker 1: last season for a lot of the same reasons that
Speaker 1: Westbrook won in twenty seventeen. He had an amazing stat line,
Speaker 1: largely without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Junior. At his side,
Speaker 1: and his team almost won fifty games. I know for me,
Speaker 1: I personally use the exact same rationale with Westbrook. In
Speaker 1: twenty seventeen, the Thunder lost Durrant. They were supposed to
Speaker 1: fall off the face of the NBA map. They won
Speaker 1: forty seven games. RUSS average a triple double. They you know,
Speaker 1: fifty wins has always been the minimum standard. You know,
Speaker 1: in the modern MVP voting, your team had to win
Speaker 1: fifty games for you to be an MVP. Yoki won
Speaker 1: forty eight last season, RUSS one forty seven, So it's
Speaker 1: like they came close to fifty in adverse situations with
Speaker 1: a shorthanded team. So but like it just seems like
Speaker 1: the strongest case against Yoki this season is he's already
Speaker 1: won two in a row. And I mean, look at
Speaker 1: it that, you know, it's a one all star team
Speaker 1: and they're winning the West, and Yoki's numbers are unbelievable.
Speaker 1: So his case is really really strong. But Joel has
Speaker 1: a great case too, and Philly has put on an
Speaker 1: absolute They've been on a monster run now for three
Speaker 1: months and it's not over. We still have fifteen ish
Speaker 1: games left in the season, depending on where Philly ends
Speaker 1: up in the ladder, and if Joel keeps playing the
Speaker 1: way he's playing, it both ends. I still think he
Speaker 1: has time, Yeah, I think he does. But Joker's numbers
Speaker 1: are they're unbelievable, triple double as a right now, number
Speaker 1: one in the Western Conference standings Philly right now they
Speaker 1: are third, yeah, third and Eastern Conference. So there are
Speaker 1: four games back of Milwaukee for the top spot in
Speaker 1: the Eastern Conference. So there's still some there's still some
Speaker 1: room for him to make a push. I would say
Speaker 1: that make a push. But you just hear, you know,
Speaker 1: you see these straw polls that come out, and you
Speaker 1: just you hear from a lot of the you know,
Speaker 1: the NBA talking heads, and you know, you hear Joker
Speaker 1: pretty much. It seems like he almost hasn't solidified. And
Speaker 1: so I think that's kind of what Joel is hearing
Speaker 1: right as a right now, and he's kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: fed up like Philly. You know, obviously I'm talking from
Speaker 1: the six er standpoint. Man. They they believe it should
Speaker 1: be Joel's award hands down this year. And I think
Speaker 1: Stein to your point, like I think I would have
Speaker 1: if I voted, I would have voted last year. If
Speaker 1: I voted, I would have voted for for NBA last
Speaker 1: year and this year as a right now, the way
Speaker 1: it stands right now, I don't you know, I can
Speaker 1: see why somebody has given the ass to Joker is
Speaker 1: you know, it's crazy. You know, we we we never
Speaker 1: seen anything like that from a big to put these
Speaker 1: type of us. I mean, he's shooting forty percent from
Speaker 1: three point range as well. He's gotten better as field
Speaker 1: goal percentage. I believe career high field goal percentage as
Speaker 1: of right now too, So you know, he's playing unbelievable.
Speaker 1: But Joel embiid Man, that dude is a dominant beast man.
Speaker 1: He's definitely you could definitely make the case he should
Speaker 1: have had at least one MVP by now. But yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's still more time. So I was saying, b
Speaker 1: don't give up, keep doing your thing, keep you know,
Speaker 1: keep killing out there. And that matchup, that matchup against Denver,
Speaker 1: that could go a long way. Because again I'm going
Speaker 1: back to that Russell Russ brook Brook MVP. Russ stole
Speaker 1: my vote the last two weeks of the season. He
Speaker 1: stole my vote. I had it. I was going to
Speaker 1: give it to Harden, and I remember the Rockets got
Speaker 1: mad at me at that, you know, at that time
Speaker 1: when they found out I voted for Russ. So there's
Speaker 1: still time for MB to take it, to steal this award. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And look, you know, like I said, when I when
Speaker 1: I give my synopsis of the race, it's again using
Speaker 1: that the way I've always done it, the way, you know,
Speaker 1: And again this is just me, one voter out of
Speaker 1: the usual hundred or used to be, I think even
Speaker 1: more than a hundred. You know, I've always treated it
Speaker 1: as who had the best season combination of their production
Speaker 1: and team success. But then other voters might feel like,
Speaker 1: you know what, Joel Embiide is a sensational two way player.
Speaker 1: Yokich is not known as a two way player. And
Speaker 1: I'm going to give my vote to MB because he
Speaker 1: does it at both ends of the court. And that
Speaker 1: was always the knock against Nash. Nash was certainly, you know,
Speaker 1: by no means any kind of force on the defensive end.
Speaker 1: And so that used to bother the anti Nash lobby
Speaker 1: that would say, how can this guy be the MVP
Speaker 1: when he really is only doing it at one end?
Speaker 1: But that's kind of the whole point is that there
Speaker 1: are no guidelines. Everybody can do this eye of the
Speaker 1: beholder and anyone who has a vote can do it
Speaker 1: anyway they want. I mean, that's really it. You can't
Speaker 1: and I think yeah, and and you make a good point.
Speaker 1: We're talking about both sides of the ball right there.
Speaker 1: I think most people, most unbiased people would say, pound
Speaker 1: for pound, all around player, they would probably say Joel
Speaker 1: is probably the more complete player because he could do
Speaker 1: it on both ends. But again, when when you're talking
Speaker 1: about the Joker and what he's doing, yes, he's not
Speaker 1: that efficient on a defensive end, but you know, still
Speaker 1: like what he provides to a team and how important
Speaker 1: he is and the numbers he's putting up and how
Speaker 1: much onnes is he you know, he's a quarterback of
Speaker 1: that team, so you can't dismiss his contribution. But definitely,
Speaker 1: like for Pal to me, I don't know if this
Speaker 1: would be controversial. We'll see on social media. We'll see
Speaker 1: if if this is aggregated, we'll see if this is controversial.
Speaker 1: But I don't think it's controversial to say Poal for Pal,
Speaker 1: Joel Embie is a better player than a Joker and
Speaker 1: that's not that doesn't mean that his Hibbie p case
Speaker 1: should be stronger because of that. I'm just stating what
Speaker 1: I think. It's probably fast. I mean, you just you
Speaker 1: just kind of summed up one of the biggest debates
Speaker 1: about this award that has always been is this. And
Speaker 1: that's why I say I'm from that old school that
Speaker 1: says this should be a best season award, because if
Speaker 1: we try to make it about best player again, I
Speaker 1: came up. I started my first season in the league,
Speaker 1: was the second half of the ninety four seas and
Speaker 1: I probably got my first award ballots the next season.
Speaker 1: So ninety four ninety five, you know, Jordan comes back
Speaker 1: at the end of that season. But so now you
Speaker 1: know the first you know, ninety six, ninety seven, ninety eight.
Speaker 1: If you want to give MVP to the best player
Speaker 1: on Earth, we could have given it to Jordan on
Speaker 1: opening night. We didn't need to even have a vote,
Speaker 1: I mean if And that's why I've always felt that
Speaker 1: MVP should be best Season. And I think to this
Speaker 1: point because the Nuggets have been the runaway first place
Speaker 1: team in the West with only one All Star, with
Speaker 1: these other guys missing some time, with Yoki putting up
Speaker 1: the numbers that he has and you know, I think
Speaker 1: shooting better than sixty percent from the floor. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying he's already won it, but I you know,
Speaker 1: when when you know, I think Tim Bonchamp's from ESPN
Speaker 1: when he came out with a straw pole that said
Speaker 1: Joker was in the league, I think Joker was in
Speaker 1: the lead. But the season ain't over. And so you're right,
Speaker 1: if Joel Embid comes out in that showdown with Denver
Speaker 1: later this month and absolutely dominates the Joker, It's only
Speaker 1: one game, and one game shouldn't change everything, but you
Speaker 1: know it will. I mean, can you know if that
Speaker 1: face off the next day, the noise is going to
Speaker 1: be loud. It shouldn't. But if he wins that face
Speaker 1: off and dominating fashion, it's much more significant to do
Speaker 1: it late in the season opposed to haven't done it
Speaker 1: earlier in the season, because that's going to be the
Speaker 1: last impression, you know, so that that's a significant game.
Speaker 1: That game is going to mean more than just one game.
Speaker 1: It's going to be more than just one performance. That
Speaker 1: could if he keeps dominating up until that point. The
Speaker 1: Philadelphia seventy six to continue to climb up in the standings,
Speaker 1: and he dominates that game where it's a clear cut,
Speaker 1: no doubt about it. Be got the best of Joker
Speaker 1: that can that can have a significant that can play
Speaker 1: a significant part on who's this year's MVP. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be fascinating. But you know, to your point
Speaker 1: about how you know, Joel has kept it focused on
Speaker 1: the playoffs and on winning, and he's been super consistent
Speaker 1: with that. I went to Houston in early January and
Speaker 1: went to the Sixers were playing the Rockets, and the
Speaker 1: way it turned out, it was actually Harden's return game
Speaker 1: from his long injury absence. It wasn't planned like that,
Speaker 1: you know. I had planned to just go to Houston
Speaker 1: and see the Sixers because they were in Texas, and
Speaker 1: it just worked so worked out that that that was
Speaker 1: Harden's comeback game and the rock the The Sixers loss
Speaker 1: in overtime that night and looked awful, and since then
Speaker 1: they've just been on an absolute tear since since that game.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to I wanted to talk to Joel
Speaker 1: not about the MVP. I wanted to talk to him
Speaker 1: about which a story which I I've been writing about
Speaker 1: since I want to say, September and October, a story
Speaker 1: that I just find so fascinating that France and Team
Speaker 1: USA are basically in a recruiting war to get Joel
Speaker 1: to play for their national team. The basketball romantic enemy
Speaker 1: would love to see and Bead and Siakam team up
Speaker 1: for Cameroon and see how far they can take Cameroon.
Speaker 1: But all the rumbles suggest that Joel is either going
Speaker 1: to play for France or the United States. He is
Speaker 1: a citizen of both now and has the choice. These
Speaker 1: are the two best teams in world basketball. You know,
Speaker 1: France beat the United States at the twenty nineteen World Cup.
Speaker 1: They beat them at the Olympics. The United States ended
Speaker 1: up beating them in the medal round and coming back
Speaker 1: to win that game. But I'm really fascinated by what
Speaker 1: happens there and and what decision and Bead makes. So
Speaker 1: I got trying to say, can I say yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I can say this. I think I can. So
Speaker 1: there was there was a this was what's Grant Hills role?
Speaker 1: You know, that's my partner in crime over there at TNT.
Speaker 1: What what USA basketball? I mean basically GM Okay, So
Speaker 1: I was we were doing me and Grant were doing
Speaker 1: a game. M it might it had to been longer.
Speaker 1: It had to been longer than a year ago. It
Speaker 1: had to have been. But I was on the phone
Speaker 1: with with Himbad about something. I don't know if we
Speaker 1: were doing a six year game or whatever. And this
Speaker 1: was before you know, this was before you came out
Speaker 1: with the emerge with the report of that. I thought
Speaker 1: Grant was playing. So I'm on the phone with him
Speaker 1: bad and Grant like it is in the background, he
Speaker 1: heard me talking to Joel and he was like, hey,
Speaker 1: tell him a come on this side, tell him come
Speaker 1: on this side, you know. And I didn't know what
Speaker 1: he was talking about, and so I like, I left
Speaker 1: it alone. I didn't really entertain it or dig too
Speaker 1: deep into it. Then when you came out with your
Speaker 1: story later, I was like, that's what Grant was talking about. Man.
Speaker 1: That whole time, I had no clue. I had no clue. Man,
Speaker 1: I was completely lost. But that that would that would
Speaker 1: be big, that would be I don't know which way
Speaker 1: he's was, which way he's headed. I'm kind of like you,
Speaker 1: I kind of I guess I want to see him
Speaker 1: go against the USA a little bit. That would be cool.
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Here's the thing. France has Gobar already.
Speaker 1: They also now have this guy named when Ban Yama,
Speaker 1: who I think everybody's heard of. Do they really love
Speaker 1: and beat as well? The United States actually has a
Speaker 1: void at center? But does I mean USA basketball has
Speaker 1: always had the deepest rosters in international competition since nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety two, when NBA players were allowed to start playing.
Speaker 1: Does I mean does USA basketball really now need to
Speaker 1: recruit Joel and bead on top of all the talent
Speaker 1: they already have. Yes, yes they do. They want the best,
Speaker 1: they want the best. Yes, I mean it's not it's
Speaker 1: not like, you know, the Team USA has had a
Speaker 1: resurgence over the last few years, but it's still not
Speaker 1: like we're night and day above the rest of the world.
Speaker 1: It's no longer that. So you got to you gotta
Speaker 1: pile up as many players as you can. I was had.
Speaker 1: I had a conversation with stan Van Gundhi not too
Speaker 1: long ago, and we were talking about the process of
Speaker 1: Team USA and how they select talent now because a
Speaker 1: lot of stars nowadays. Remember remember when I think it
Speaker 1: was yeah, when Colangelo took over, there were cuts. You know,
Speaker 1: you bring in a certain amount of players, you would
Speaker 1: have cuts. Now players don't want to participate in that process.
Speaker 1: They want to be guaranteed a spot. They don't want
Speaker 1: to go through. It's kind of like the All Star Game. Stein.
Speaker 1: Players don't want to be they don't want to be
Speaker 1: publicly put out there to be pick lass or pick
Speaker 1: you know, it's an ego thing. And so the same
Speaker 1: thing as with the Team USA and how their selection
Speaker 1: process is now, you're not They're no longer can get
Speaker 1: the top guys just to come in, come in for
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks, try them out, then cut them
Speaker 1: over a period of time. These are still all star
Speaker 1: players or pretty close to being star players. And so
Speaker 1: that's the tough part, you know. Now it's like you
Speaker 1: know Lebron, you know, you know it's Lebron's KDS. You
Speaker 1: know though you know those guys they're gonna be guaranteed.
Speaker 1: So it's harder to get guys into the fold now.
Speaker 1: So that's why I say what Joel and Bi, Yes,
Speaker 1: you need them. You need them because you don't know
Speaker 1: who's going to come over and commit to the whole process.
Speaker 1: You don't know who you don't even know who's going
Speaker 1: to accept the automatic roster spots. And so that's why
Speaker 1: I say, you gotta just you gotta get as much
Speaker 1: talent as you can and figure it out later. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna do now what I don't like to do,
Speaker 1: but I can't resist. This is when I this is
Speaker 1: when I know you know a player well and I
Speaker 1: ask you to speak for that player, which is a
Speaker 1: terrible thing for me to do, but I can't resist.
Speaker 1: So your guy Batoum, you will always talk about you
Speaker 1: and Nick Batoum. How far back you guys go? What
Speaker 1: do you think Nick Batoum's reaction would be? And the
Speaker 1: other French vets if Joel picks the United States. I mean,
Speaker 1: France has a wonderful team full of talented NBA guys,
Speaker 1: but none of them I don't think are current All Stars.
Speaker 1: Rudy didn't make the All Star Game this year, so
Speaker 1: it's like France wouldn't have a current NBA All Star
Speaker 1: on their roster. And now Embiid picks the United States,
Speaker 1: you don't think the French would be like, come on, man,
Speaker 1: you guys really need Joel Embiid. You have Durant and
Speaker 1: every you know, everybody on one Hell yeah, they'll be
Speaker 1: piss Hell yeah, they'll they'll go at them and give
Speaker 1: him some flat and rightfully. So I'm just I'm missed
Speaker 1: talking from a you know, from a United States citizen.
Speaker 1: We gotta go after all the big talent we can,
Speaker 1: That's what I'm saying. But of course Dicket and Rudy, Shoot,
Speaker 1: they better be on the recruiting recruiting pride right now.
Speaker 1: They should be calling him every week just to make
Speaker 1: sure that he knows that they still want them and
Speaker 1: get his butt over there and let's let's take down
Speaker 1: the USA. But I'm speaking solely as a member of
Speaker 1: the United States of America. We gotta be getting everybody
Speaker 1: that we can, and Joel Embiid is a big fish.
Speaker 1: That fish should be over here. But I definitely understand
Speaker 1: the other side of the story is money. That was
Speaker 1: and that was again that was before before you came
Speaker 1: out with the story. So I had no clue. I
Speaker 1: didn't even ask, I didn't follow up with him about it.
Speaker 1: I just thought it was some inside joke that they had,
Speaker 1: so I didn't know. Yeah, no, they I mean, that's
Speaker 1: the thing. They want him badly now. But I guess.
Speaker 1: So I went to Houston to try to talk to
Speaker 1: him about this, and you know, again he's he's great,
Speaker 1: took my questions. We ended up having a nice little chap,
Speaker 1: but he's just like, look, I want to stay focused
Speaker 1: on the season. We're trying to win a championship here.
Speaker 1: I do not want to talk about my international future
Speaker 1: until after the season. So he's been he's been consistent
Speaker 1: and steady all year that he knows, you know, campaigning
Speaker 1: for the MVP or whatever else he's tried the last
Speaker 1: two years, he's fallen just short twice. So he's doing
Speaker 1: the smart thing, just keep chasing the championship and see
Speaker 1: where the chips fall. But no, I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think between the way he's been playing here the
Speaker 1: last few weeks, just crushing it, and then you know,
Speaker 1: your interview with him certainly help help help kind of
Speaker 1: feed more into it that I do not think this
Speaker 1: MVP race is over. I really don't. Yeah, man, I
Speaker 1: want to see I want to see those two goal.
Speaker 1: I want to see it be a head on head
Speaker 1: collision course down the stretch. I think, um, I think
Speaker 1: Embiat has had a phenomenal season. He definitely should be
Speaker 1: in the run out. Hope, hopefully people still have an
Speaker 1: open mind about this, as you tend to believe Stein
Speaker 1: so because in beat Man, he's doing some unbelievable things. Man,
Speaker 1: The way he's the way he moves on the court, man,
Speaker 1: the things that he can do at that size, Man,
Speaker 1: it's nobody else in the league can even compare. You know,
Speaker 1: as great as Joker is what Embat does on that offense,
Speaker 1: being the way he moves, I'm talking about the dribbling,
Speaker 1: the step backs to like that. Dude, he has the
Speaker 1: whole game and defensively he's a beat So you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see Steine. Let's let's talk about embat teammates the
Speaker 1: other start. He didn't make the All FTAR team this year,
Speaker 1: but how about that, so let me let me let
Speaker 1: me talk. So I had a I had a I
Speaker 1: was able to talk to briefly his um, his new agent.
Speaker 1: You know, James Harden hasn't had an agent over the
Speaker 1: last man. Hasn't been a handful of years already, this
Speaker 1: three four years something along those lines. He hasn't had
Speaker 1: an official agent at the time. So he hired his
Speaker 1: longtime friend business partner Troy Payne and he launched Equity
Speaker 1: Basketball Agency. So me and him were going back and
Speaker 1: forth on a text exchange the day of the game
Speaker 1: between the Sixers and ten Bulls, and so I didn't
Speaker 1: get to use this on air, so I can I
Speaker 1: can use it here. I didn't use it on air
Speaker 1: because James didn't play. So, you know, it's kind of
Speaker 1: been like with the success that James is having. He's
Speaker 1: having a phenomenal season and kind of just reinventing his game,
Speaker 1: shooting a career high from three point percentage, twenty something
Speaker 1: assists or whatever game he had. I can't remember the
Speaker 1: number on top of my head, but he's just playing unbelievable.
Speaker 1: But you know, there's been a little bit of a
Speaker 1: cloud over the Sixers team once you go past this
Speaker 1: year because we heard the reports or the rumors about
Speaker 1: how James Harden is looking to get back to Houston,
Speaker 1: and that's kind that's kind of weird because we heard
Speaker 1: this back in December, I want to say, so it's
Speaker 1: kind of weird time you really don't hear a story
Speaker 1: like that on a team that is a contending team.
Speaker 1: You don't really hear the stories like that come out
Speaker 1: but there's been an awful lot of people talking about
Speaker 1: it in the industry, so there's seemed to be some
Speaker 1: some some level of credibility to these reports. So I
Speaker 1: asked Troy Paying, his new agent, about that, and he said, look,
Speaker 1: everything right now is a distraction. He said, James is
Speaker 1: focused solely on Philly. He said they have really a
Speaker 1: real chance to make a legitimate run for a championship,
Speaker 1: and James is doing everything that he can to try
Speaker 1: to facilitate that process. And he talked about not being sidetrack,
Speaker 1: talked about how James doesn't want to be sidetrack with
Speaker 1: all these outside noises talking about what he could do
Speaker 1: next season whatever. He said, he's committed to He's committed
Speaker 1: to Philly. They're trying to do something right now, and
Speaker 1: he wants to stay in the moment. And so and
Speaker 1: I asked him about, you know, just All Star did
Speaker 1: he feel did James feel slighted at all? And he
Speaker 1: said that definitely. He said he felt there was disrespect
Speaker 1: and he felt that his performance this season should have
Speaker 1: got it should have been enough to warrant him being
Speaker 1: to the All Star team, he says, so he's definitely
Speaker 1: has used that as fuel to help him, he said,
Speaker 1: but ultimately, the number one goal is to win a championship.
Speaker 1: And he said, that's where James's head is right now.
Speaker 1: He's not looking beyond next beyond this season. So what
Speaker 1: do you say to that. St Well, look, when it
Speaker 1: came out that he had a new agent, I think
Speaker 1: that only whipped up more of the speculation and the
Speaker 1: rumbles around the league that he wants to go back
Speaker 1: to Houston. And I do think there is some level
Speaker 1: of credence to it. I mean, like you said, it
Speaker 1: is just talked about way too much in league circles
Speaker 1: for there to be nothing to it. The talk about
Speaker 1: Harden wanting to go back to Houston again. I do
Speaker 1: think it is real to some degree. To what specific degree,
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody could tell you in early March,
Speaker 1: because let's face it, if the Rockets win the lottery
Speaker 1: and win the right to draft Victor wemman Yama, presumably
Speaker 1: they are going to do everything they can to build
Speaker 1: around wembon Yama, and I doubt that they would have
Speaker 1: interest in a James Harden reunion if the Rockets don't
Speaker 1: win the lottery and don't get Wembanyama and are looking
Speaker 1: at a situation where they're bringing in another young player
Speaker 1: to add to the slew of young guys they already have.
Speaker 1: And Tilman, for Tita, I think wants to be back
Speaker 1: in the playoff mix. I don't think he wants to
Speaker 1: put up with any more rebuilding. And they you know,
Speaker 1: it has been a tumultuous season in Houston. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of uncertainty there with where this team is going
Speaker 1: in the future heading into this draft lottery. If if
Speaker 1: they don't get Wembanyama, would that make the Rockets as
Speaker 1: intrigued and as interested in a James Harden reunion as
Speaker 1: people around the league think. James is you know, I
Speaker 1: don't think that that is a way out of left
Speaker 1: field connecting of the dots. So I think we have
Speaker 1: to keep an eye on the draft lottery first. I
Speaker 1: think that will tell us everything. But that's a doomsday
Speaker 1: scenario for Philly because you know, Harden took this shorter contract,
Speaker 1: he took the pay cut that facilitated the ability to
Speaker 1: bring in PJ. Tucker and Daniel House and DeAndre Melton
Speaker 1: and make these you know, make the moves to make
Speaker 1: their you know, taking lesser money with a player option
Speaker 1: for next season enabled Philly to make moves that it
Speaker 1: didn't look like the Sixers were going to be able
Speaker 1: to make. But if Harden then walks, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: Darryl Moorey's guy. I mean, it would be stunning if
Speaker 1: that's the way that this played out, that Hardened, you know,
Speaker 1: opted out and left. Even that we're talking about it,
Speaker 1: even though people have been talking about it season, it
Speaker 1: seems like I still think it would go down as
Speaker 1: a shock that Daryl Morey waited. You know, Darryl Moorey
Speaker 1: tried to get James Harden almost as soon as he
Speaker 1: got to Philly. He spent all last season trying to
Speaker 1: get him until he actually did. He wouldn't entertain Ben
Speaker 1: Simmons offers from other teams because he wanted James Harden.
Speaker 1: Got James Harden. I mean, if Harden were to leave
Speaker 1: Philly after a season and a half, that would be
Speaker 1: an absolute seismic development. It would you touched on it
Speaker 1: because you know what they did to get him, and
Speaker 1: then the sacrifice, the financial sacrifice James Harden made to
Speaker 1: acquire certain players, and if he were to bolt huge blow,
Speaker 1: this would be this would be I would say this
Speaker 1: would be a tougher blow than what Toronto had to
Speaker 1: deal with with Kauhai leaving after or a year because
Speaker 1: of everything that went on with UM with James prior
Speaker 1: to this season. So with that being said, I still
Speaker 1: I still want to see how this season ends with Philly.
Speaker 1: You know, what if they make it to the NBA
Speaker 1: Finals or what if they win the NBA Finals. You
Speaker 1: don't you don't think that that has any type of
Speaker 1: leaves any type of influence on James to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: maybe I need to hang around another year. He has
Speaker 1: a player option for next year, correct, right, So it's
Speaker 1: his choice. It's his choice, yea. The assumption is that
Speaker 1: he would decline the option and redo, you know, do
Speaker 1: a new deal with Philly for more. But you know,
Speaker 1: this Houston talk has been there for literally months with
Speaker 1: an S So I still think there's other scenarios that
Speaker 1: could play out depending on how the season shakes out
Speaker 1: and how they finish. So it's it's a weird story,
Speaker 1: a weird story to be covering because this is a team,
Speaker 1: this is the Philadelphia seventy sixer team that is a
Speaker 1: legitimate title contender, So it's kind of a weird story
Speaker 1: to be covering right now, especially when it came out.
Speaker 1: That's report came out in December, so a little weird,
Speaker 1: but hey, this is the NBA, that's this league. That's
Speaker 1: that's why we do this. Who says that this league?
Speaker 1: This league? Hashtag this league uncut? Yeah, like it's I
Speaker 1: mean that loss in Houston December fifth, Harden comes back
Speaker 1: from injury. The Sixers lose in double overtime, not one overtime,
Speaker 1: double overtime. I told you my memory sucks. Sixers lose
Speaker 1: in double overtime at Houston on December fifth, go home
Speaker 1: for a one two, three, four, five six seven game
Speaker 1: homestand the Sixers sweep that homestand and go seven and oh.
Speaker 1: Since that Houston game, they were twelve and well on
Speaker 1: December fifth, they are now they are thirty one and ten.
Speaker 1: Since that night that I saw that, I spoke to
Speaker 1: mister Embiide in Houston, so they have been absolutely fantastic.
Speaker 1: And you know, no, I'm not no, I'm not the reason.
Speaker 1: I mean they yeah, they got they got me out
Speaker 1: of their sites and then started. I'm not the reason.
Speaker 1: But look, I mean the you know, we talked so
Speaker 1: much about the West. I'm actually glad we did it.
Speaker 1: We didn't even plan it this way, and it just
Speaker 1: kind of this ended up being a full on Eastern
Speaker 1: Conference podcast because you know, Philly, with with the way
Speaker 1: Boston has struggled here lately, with the way Milwaukee has
Speaker 1: just been playing fantastic, but you know, Philly, they've really
Speaker 1: kind of made it a three team show out there.
Speaker 1: We're in the West. We have so many question marks
Speaker 1: in the West, but this is good that we u
Speaker 1: you know again, just you know, we're recording this on
Speaker 1: Wednesday night. This drops Thursday. Just today we had Memphis
Speaker 1: come out and say that John Morant will will not
Speaker 1: be with the team for at least four more games.
Speaker 1: Luca don Chich exited the Dallas loss at New Orleans
Speaker 1: with an injury. KD twists his ankle pregame. Can't even
Speaker 1: play for Phoenix tonight and what would have been his
Speaker 1: first home game. Zion Williamson is out for at least
Speaker 1: two more weeks in New Orleans. So nothing but question
Speaker 1: marks in the West that we will keep getting to
Speaker 1: and analyzing and dissecting and breaking down. But in the East,
Speaker 1: props to Philly. It's been all the talk This season
Speaker 1: was about Milwaukee and Boston. And it started out Boston
Speaker 1: and Milwaukee being a tier under themselves. And Joel Embiid
Speaker 1: and James Harden have powered these guys. It's a three
Speaker 1: It's a three team tier at the top of the East.
Speaker 1: And yes, we are here to proclaim that the MVP
Speaker 1: race is not over breaking news. The season is still going.
Speaker 1: Let it play out. Let it play out, Stein, And
Speaker 1: before before we get out of here, Stein, let me,
Speaker 1: let me let me stick with the East real quick.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you a question. See how you feel
Speaker 1: about this. I want to go to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Speaker 1: And no, I'm not talking about Yannis. I'm not going
Speaker 1: with Yannis. I'm not talking Drew Holiday, I'm not talking
Speaker 1: Chris Milton. I want to talk about something that I
Speaker 1: witnessed firsthand with Pat Connington. This had to have been
Speaker 1: a month ago. Bucks Lakers. I'm covering Bucks Lakers, so Stein,
Speaker 1: I'm minding my own business. Or walk into the arena
Speaker 1: is right before the game, and I see Pat Connington
Speaker 1: about to take a picture with a young boy. This
Speaker 1: boy looked like he's about nine years old, eight or
Speaker 1: nine years old. The young boy asked Pat, Pat is
Speaker 1: my guy. By the way, me throw that out there.
Speaker 1: He also started his career in Portland. But this just
Speaker 1: throw that out there stock full disctosure. So this young boy,
Speaker 1: he's sitting courtside, he asked Pat Connington for a picture.
Speaker 1: Pat Connington comes over and grant he's about to grant
Speaker 1: him this picture, but he noticed. He noticed it's the
Speaker 1: jersey that this young boy is wearing. The young boy
Speaker 1: is wearing a Lebron James Lequer jersey. He makes the
Speaker 1: young boy take the jersey off before he took the
Speaker 1: picture with him. And so I walked past, and I'm
Speaker 1: seeing the boy as I as I'm walking past, I'm
Speaker 1: seeing the boy take the jersey off. And so I
Speaker 1: look at Pat. I'm like, Pat, you made him do that.
Speaker 1: He said, that's right, that's right, that's right. Want to
Speaker 1: take a picture of me take that jersey off. That's
Speaker 1: right that the boy did it. He took the picture.
Speaker 1: It was funny. I would have mentioned it during the
Speaker 1: game if it was time for it. So, Stein, do
Speaker 1: you have a problem with Pet Connaughton making this young
Speaker 1: eight nine year old kid take his lebron jersey off
Speaker 1: as he's taking a picture with Pet you know what,
Speaker 1: I think, I side with Connaughton here. I watched and
Speaker 1: of course again because my mem man, it's getting old sucks.
Speaker 1: This happened Saturday, and I can't even remember the specifics exactly,
Speaker 1: but on the ABC pregame show, they actually showed footage
Speaker 1: of I want to say, it was a young Bucks fan,
Speaker 1: and I think she had Embad's jersey on and I
Speaker 1: think she got Embad's autograph pregame, and then she took
Speaker 1: the jersey off and was actually wearing a Bucks jersey
Speaker 1: underneath it because she's really a Bucks fan. So wow,
Speaker 1: it was a very savvy move by this young lady.
Speaker 1: And like I said, I'm I really hope I'm not
Speaker 1: screwing up the story because like I said, I watched
Speaker 1: it Saturday, it's Wednesday night. But apparently for me, remembering
Speaker 1: something from four days ago as impossible. So I said,
Speaker 1: I think I'm I'm retelling the story properly. But um,
Speaker 1: maybe maybe maybe Pat was a you know, I guess
Speaker 1: you also got a factor in the age. If the
Speaker 1: kid was really eight or nine, that's probably too. I
Speaker 1: would probably say if it's a teenager, okay, but you know,
Speaker 1: eight or nine, I think you just rolled with it
Speaker 1: and that was cool. It was fun, you know what
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I'm saying this just to start some engagement.
Speaker 1: But I'm rocking on what Pat did. I'm rocking one hundred.
Speaker 1: I have no problems whatsoever. I was a little surprised,
Speaker 1: but I'll rock with him one hundred. Listen, they're going
Speaker 1: he's going up against the Lakers. That's a that's a
Speaker 1: big game. That's a big showdown. Can't be taking pictures
Speaker 1: with somebody rocking Lebron's jersey. Like now, if he would
Speaker 1: have did it, I wouldn't you know. I wouldn't tripped,
Speaker 1: I wouldn't said anything, I wouldn't have any second thoughts.
Speaker 1: But the fact that he handled it that way, I'm like,
Speaker 1: pet That's why I messed with you. Man. You petty,
Speaker 1: You petty like me, That's why I messed with I
Speaker 1: had no problems if he wasn't if you guys were
Speaker 1: in in Portland together, No, no, no, I didn't. Actually
Speaker 1: I wasn't covering the Blazer. I wouldn't a beat writer
Speaker 1: when he was there. Man, How am I to tell
Speaker 1: Scott Cassiola of the New York Times, who I thought
Speaker 1: was the president, the media president of Pat Connaughton's fan club.
Speaker 1: How am I going to tell him that you that
Speaker 1: I rock with Pet, that you are tight with Pat Connors.
Speaker 1: I rock with Pet. That's that's so petty and I
Speaker 1: rocked with it one one hundred percent. I know some people,
Speaker 1: some of the people probably feel some type of way
Speaker 1: about it. Oh, he's a kid Stein You being the
Speaker 1: gentleman you are, I figure you'd be like, uh, he's
Speaker 1: eight nine. No, you know, I may be a gentleman,
Speaker 1: but I've got I've got plenty of pettiness and grudge holding.
Speaker 1: You know, you know, you know, I do know. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to get it out of you. Stop. I'm trying
Speaker 1: to get it out of you one day day, slowly
Speaker 1: but surely. We got many, many, many pods for my
Speaker 1: pettiness and grudges to be revealed here and there. This
Speaker 1: was awesome. I love that this. Very little of this
Speaker 1: was planned and this we did a whole pod that
Speaker 1: just kind of organically flowed. Absolutely love it. Thanks everybody
Speaker 1: for joining us on another edition of this League uncut.
Speaker 1: If my voice sounds lower about halfway through this pod
Speaker 1: than it was, that's because I'm recording this in a
Speaker 1: hotel room, and I think I was shouting so loud
Speaker 1: at the beginning that someone next to my room was
Speaker 1: pounding on the wall, so I had to tone it
Speaker 1: down a little bit. Chris and I will be back
Speaker 1: very very soon, back Monday on our normal schedule. Please
Speaker 1: please rate, review, subscribe, have a great weekend, and let's
Speaker 1: get some of these guys healthy. Be good everyone, and
Speaker 1: that'll do it for us. See you next time. This
Speaker 1: league uncut is and I heard radio production