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Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty

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Speaker 1: four hour NBA News.

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Speaker 2: This you lo.

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Speaker 1: Chris Hans. It's time, works time, it's some time. This

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Speaker 1: League Uncut is underway in on fire.

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Speaker 3: This should be a good one.

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Speaker 4: Welcome friends back again with another edition of This League Uncut.

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Speaker 4: We are recording on the eve of the twenty twenty

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Speaker 4: two to twenty three NBA Finals and honored to have

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Speaker 4: a Finals participant with us, not exactly an on the

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Speaker 4: court participant, but a key figure in helping the Denver

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Speaker 4: Nuggets reach the NBA Finals for the first time in

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Speaker 4: their NBA history. It is their GM general manager, Calvin Booth,

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Speaker 4: who I once covered as a player many many years ago. Calvin,

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Speaker 4: Welcome to the show, Chris, and excited to have you

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Speaker 4: here in Congrats on an NBA Finals appearance. You've had

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Speaker 4: several days to think about it, but I'm guessing it

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Speaker 4: still has to be surreal here on some level.

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Speaker 2: First of all, thanks for having me on. I'm excited

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Speaker 2: to be on as well. And yes, of course it's

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Speaker 2: still settling in and I think it'll be surreal for

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Speaker 2: a while.

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Speaker 4: So I'm sure you've seen the stat This is Pat

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Speaker 4: Riley's nineteenth NBA Finals as a player, coach or executive.

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Speaker 4: How are you going to neutralize Pat Riley in the

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Speaker 4: GM matchup in this in this series?

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Speaker 2: Well, I think that one's uh. I think pat one

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Speaker 2: was that one going away. I'm really try to fight

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Speaker 2: that bat well hopefully because before it can get it done.

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Speaker 5: Ce b and Stein introducing you talking about used to

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Speaker 5: cover you, it was it was a lot of minis.

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Speaker 5: There was a lot of minis you threw out there

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Speaker 5: talking about many many, many many years ago.

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Speaker 6: Man, when you when.

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Speaker 5: You look back at your career, does it seem like

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Speaker 5: it was that long ago? Man?

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Speaker 2: I think he exaggerated a little bit.

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Speaker 1: Man.

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Speaker 2: He tried to act like and I was like back

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Speaker 2: in like when you know, world be free in those guys.

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Speaker 3: It's because I feel that old.

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Speaker 4: I wasn't really referring to you now.

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Speaker 2: See.

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Speaker 5: I want to look first of all, I think congratulations,

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Speaker 5: Like Stein said, Man, what you've done in the first

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Speaker 5: year being the lead executive for the Denver Nuggets. You

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Speaker 5: did a lot, and I want to break down some

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Speaker 5: of the moves you made. But when Tim Conley left

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Speaker 5: to take the Timberwolves job, what was the objective. What

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Speaker 5: was the directive from ownership? What did they tell you

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Speaker 5: that they wanted you to do. I'm talking about not overall,

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Speaker 5: but in this first year coming up, Like, what was

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Speaker 5: the objective?

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Speaker 2: Well, Chris Man, I don't, honestly, I don't think there

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Speaker 2: was time for that. Like, you know, everything was kind

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Speaker 2: of abrupt, and the transition was very quick, and I

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Speaker 2: kind of took the bull by the proverbial horns. You know,

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Speaker 2: Josh is busy managing the Arsenal and you know, dealing

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Speaker 2: with the Rams and you know the many many sports

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Speaker 2: franchise they have, and obviously it drew his attention a

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Speaker 2: big time when you know, Tim's transition was happening. But

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Speaker 2: like you know, those first first week or so, I

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Speaker 2: just started reaching out to players and started to like,

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Speaker 2: you know, prepare for the draft and uh prepared as

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Speaker 2: if you know, like the job was going to be mine.

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Speaker 2: But there was no I don't think there was any

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Speaker 2: determination at that point. I think there was eventually a

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Speaker 2: press conference where Josh gave me a vote of confidence

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Speaker 2: or whatever, but it was just basically to work. You know,

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Speaker 2: you know, from our experience of playing in the playoffs

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Speaker 2: that previous year, is just a bunch of conclusions that

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Speaker 2: I had drawn by watching that series that what we

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Speaker 2: need to do going forward, and that's how I acted.

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Speaker 5: So when you when you talk about you went just

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Speaker 5: straight to work, was there anxiety from your standpoint as

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Speaker 5: far as just not knowing, like, Okay, what is going

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Speaker 5: to be my role in the short term? How were

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Speaker 5: you able to process that and still do your job?

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Speaker 2: No, I mean I wasn't thinking about that. It was

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Speaker 2: too much more on to think about that. I was

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Speaker 2: just worried about doing a job to best my ability

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Speaker 2: and showing that I could handle the responsibility as the job.

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Speaker 2: So no real anxiety on my end. I mean, I've

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Speaker 2: been playing. It's not like I have to hit a

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Speaker 2: corner three late in the game, but the shot clock

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Speaker 2: run down or whatever. It's just it's just like you know, organizing,

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Speaker 2: getting prepping for the draft, and pitching your ideas of ownership.

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Speaker 3: Alvin.

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Speaker 4: You know Chris knows this because whenever your name comes up,

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Speaker 4: I love to bring up the story that I was

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Speaker 4: there on press row for what I think is the

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Speaker 4: highlight of your playing career when you made the layup

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Speaker 4: to send the Dallas Mavericks. You clinched a game five

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Speaker 4: win in Utah two thousand and one. The MAVs at

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Speaker 4: that point had not won a playoff series for more

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Speaker 4: than a decade, and in those days, five game first

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Speaker 4: round series teams didn't win a deciding game. In Utah,

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Speaker 4: Mas were down huge going into the fourth quarter. I

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Speaker 4: always call that shot the thirty four million dollars layup

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Speaker 4: because you signed that big deal with Seattle in the

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Speaker 4: following off season. Compare that feeling of what it felt

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Speaker 4: like to make such a big basket and such a

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Speaker 4: memorable basket in maps history too, being in the stands

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Speaker 4: and watching your team clinch a spot in the NBA Finals.

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Speaker 3: As the guy who runs the front office.

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Speaker 2: I think you're a comparable one that you know. It

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Speaker 2: was on the forefront of a new air or so

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Speaker 2: to speak. I know Mark had just taken over Dallas

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Speaker 2: and the previous previous year or two, and it made

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Speaker 2: a lot of innovations and tried to make it really

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Speaker 2: exciting around there and to actually see something that payoff

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Speaker 2: and get a first playoff series win eventually lead to

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Speaker 2: them getting in the finals a few years later and

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Speaker 2: then eventually win a championship like that. That was very

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Speaker 2: exciting and also I feel like the same here. I

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Speaker 2: felt like, you know, playing an integral role and trying

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Speaker 2: to be a steward of this team and putting the

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Speaker 2: team together that can make the finals, potentially win the finals,

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Speaker 2: and then what's on the horizon, you know, once the

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Speaker 2: season is over is an exciting thought.

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Speaker 6: I want to bring up the offseason.

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Speaker 5: Last off season, as you said, you were really busy

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Speaker 5: off season their draft. Then it's the summer. First priority

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Speaker 5: is signing getting a Joker to that extension, and after

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Speaker 5: that there are some pieces that you brought to a

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Speaker 5: table that are very very effective pieces this season.

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Speaker 6: But take me through the Joker process. What was that

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Speaker 6: process like?

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Speaker 5: Did you have to convince him at all? You know,

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Speaker 5: because there was a new direction going on here with

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Speaker 5: the of the Nuggets and you guys feel short prior.

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Speaker 5: Were there any convincing or was it just an easy process.

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Speaker 5: You went out there, you got them, Like you just

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Speaker 5: walked me through the Joker process real quick.

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Speaker 2: I think Joker is a very patient person. I think,

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Speaker 2: you know, from my end, I did feel that there

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Speaker 2: need to be some reassurances that we're going to be

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Speaker 2: heading in the right direction. You know, with Joker in

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Speaker 2: a circle, I felt like, you know, meeting with his

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Speaker 2: brothers out here, talking to Excel, talking to him. I

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Speaker 2: think what's important, and I, you know, obviously getting the

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Speaker 2: deal completed, because anytime you can get a god of

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Speaker 2: that magnitude to sign on the dotted line, it's a big.

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Speaker 5: Deal, especially you being you know again you're a few

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Speaker 5: months in or as the head exec at that point.

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Speaker 5: And then from there, how do you build around Joker

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Speaker 5: now because you're trying to change the trajectory of the team.

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Speaker 5: You're trying to get them to the point where you

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Speaker 5: guys are now. And then you made some moves. You

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Speaker 5: acquire Cantavi, it is Kywell Pope from Washington, trade away

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Speaker 5: Will Barton who's.

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Speaker 6: Been there for years. You brought on Bruce Brown, and

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Speaker 6: really he.

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Speaker 5: Took it to another level we didn't see, especially on

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Speaker 5: the offensive, and we didn't see this in years prior.

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Speaker 5: Just tell me, like, once you got Joker, what was

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Speaker 5: in your mind as far as okay, what we need

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Speaker 5: to do to bring the right talent on the cast

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Speaker 5: to make sure we get to a level that we

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Speaker 5: haven't been before.

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Speaker 6: How did you do that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean I'm just big into studying past patterns

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Speaker 2: of champions and the air I grew up in and

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Speaker 2: played in another I've watched the Bulls teams and the

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Speaker 2: Lakers teams and played against them plenty of times. So

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Speaker 2: the prevalain thought always, like, did joke and say that

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Speaker 2: jokers just a walking triangle offense. So just trying to

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Speaker 2: get that kind of person out around them, Guys that

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Speaker 2: have positional size or smart hopefully at least average defensively,

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Speaker 2: best case a little bit above the line defensively. And

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Speaker 2: you know, I mean you have a basically a seven

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Speaker 2: foot point guard that complain anywhere in the court, and

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Speaker 2: so just getting versatile guys to go around a guy

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Speaker 2: that can make shots and guard. I thought what was important.

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Speaker 4: You obviously played with Dirk, so there have been you know,

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Speaker 4: sometimes Dirk gets mentioned in, but I think it's more

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Speaker 4: like Jokic more often. You hear that he's, you know,

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Speaker 4: a seven foot, two hundred and fifty plus pound Larry Bird.

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Speaker 4: From your seat, Who is he most like when we

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Speaker 4: try to compare him to something we've seen in the past.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's some kind of matching up a Bird,

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Speaker 2: Dirk and Duncan. I mean, obviously doesn't have the the

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Speaker 2: rim protection and stuff that Duncan have, but like I

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Speaker 2: see a lot of Duncan like qualities in him. C B.

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Speaker 5: When you look at overall with the different Nuggets have

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Speaker 5: you know, people, the narrative is being that everybody's been

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Speaker 5: sleeping on the Nuggets and you guys have just been

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Speaker 5: winning all throughout the year. Mike Blow has some really

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Speaker 5: you know, interesting confidence through the course of the playoffs

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Speaker 5: about respecting this team, and so you're not in the trenches.

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Speaker 5: But I want to know, just from your seat, did

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Speaker 5: you feel like that as well? Did you feel like

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Speaker 5: the Nuggets were after thought to everybody else where we

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Speaker 5: dismissing or disrespecting or is it a combination of other factors?

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Speaker 6: Like what are your thoughts behind the narrative of the

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Speaker 6: Nuggets being slept on?

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Speaker 2: Now? I think it's a two sided coin, man. I

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Speaker 2: think like on one side of it, it's like you

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Speaker 2: have to earn respect and you have to win that

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Speaker 2: first title. You have to make it to the point

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Speaker 2: we're at right now. And I feel like, you know,

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Speaker 2: Goolden State did that at one point in time, right

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Speaker 2: you know, people probably wondered that a twenty eight game

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Speaker 2: winning streak in the regular season, then people still weren't

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Speaker 2: sure whether a bit or not. And then next thing,

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Speaker 2: you know, they want to tie it on like, oh man,

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Speaker 2: win the title, and then obviously everybody knows what happened

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Speaker 2: after that. So I think getting here and earning the

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Speaker 2: respect by our actions and by getting some results as

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Speaker 2: part of the process. But I do think, like, you know, honestly,

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Speaker 2: like I think coaches are very colorful, and he likes to,

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Speaker 2: like you know, say Mark say say things that are

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Speaker 2: catch grab attention, you know. So I do think there's

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Speaker 2: a little bit of that. But but the one thing

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Speaker 2: I will support him on is is that like when

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Speaker 2: you look at what our team did throughout the year

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Speaker 2: and you compare it to the lack of you know,

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Speaker 2: accolade so to speak, that our team got, it does

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Speaker 2: seem disproportionately out of whack, you know, Like all right,

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Speaker 2: as Joker, if he's not the m v P, right,

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Speaker 2: if he's a second team All NBA guy and he's

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Speaker 2: not the MVP, then shouldn't Aaron Gordon or Jamal or

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Speaker 2: somebody made an All Star game? Like should Casey p r?

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Speaker 2: Aaron got more push for All Defense, should our coach

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Speaker 2: got a Coach of the Year, Like, it is a

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Speaker 2: little interesting that we actually got no recognition through the

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Speaker 2: awards process for the kind of season we had, which

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Speaker 2: is I mean, obviously Joker made second Team All NBA

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Speaker 2: and was up there in the MVP voting, but like,

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Speaker 2: outside of that, pretty much nothing.

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Speaker 5: And you think about it, usually the protocol not protocol,

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Speaker 5: but it's like it's an established protocol over the years

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Speaker 5: that if a team has the number one seed going

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Speaker 5: to the break, typically they get multiple All Star players

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Speaker 5: from the same team in that game.

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Speaker 6: And it was just Joker.

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Speaker 5: You know, there was a case made, was is it

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Speaker 5: Aaron Gordon Jamaal Murray?

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Speaker 6: So I guess you felt that way as well at

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Speaker 6: that time.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, I felt like both of those guys deserved

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Speaker 2: and obviously we weren't going to get three All Stars,

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Speaker 2: but I would have been thrilled if either one of

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Speaker 2: those guys would have gotten into the game. And I

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Speaker 2: know Aaron was playing out of his mind thought up

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Speaker 2: until that point it was comparable or maybe even better

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Speaker 2: than what Andrew Wiggins had done the year before, and

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Speaker 2: he made the All Star Game, So you know, yeah,

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Speaker 2: obviously have Nuggets colored glasses on in that one. It's

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Speaker 2: always there's so many good players in the league. It

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Speaker 2: was such a great year of performances that the these

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Speaker 2: award things are hard, but like but the kind I

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Speaker 2: always thought with great teams success, you know, the individual

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Speaker 2: accolades came after that and didn't necessarily happen this year

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Speaker 2: for our team, which is fine.

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Speaker 3: So I'll be honest.

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Speaker 4: I was a pretty staunch Nuggets advocate for the bulk

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Speaker 4: of the year. I thought the fact that you guys

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Speaker 4: had continuity so many teams in the West did not.

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Speaker 4: I thought that was a real advantage for you. But

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Speaker 4: then there was the seven and ten finish, and it

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Speaker 4: just it wasn't. You guys were leading the West forever.

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Speaker 4: It was clear you were going to be the number

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Speaker 4: one seed. But I guess in the regular season the

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Speaker 4: Nuggets didn't run through the proverbial tape, maybe.

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Speaker 3: As convincingly as it could have been.

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Speaker 4: How concerned were you during that seven and ten finish

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Speaker 4: to the regular season that something had gone off track?

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Speaker 2: Honestly, I probably would have been more concerned if we

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Speaker 2: looked like the two thousand and six Spurs or something

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Speaker 2: like that. And we were eighteen OL because that hadn't

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Speaker 2: been who we had been. We had been a team

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Speaker 2: that would eb and flow, and sometimes we play well

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Speaker 2: and sometimes we didn't play well. And we obviously got

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Speaker 2: bored at the end of the season and weren't playing

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Speaker 2: our highest level basketball in it. But I didn't I've

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Speaker 2: never really doubted that when it came time to step

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Speaker 2: up in the playoffs, so we would do that. So,

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Speaker 2: I mean, Contavious had a rough end of the season,

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Speaker 2: but I think historically if you look at his numbers,

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Speaker 2: he always does that and then bounce back and start

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Speaker 2: making shots, and then in the playoffs, I think I

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Speaker 2: wasn't as concerned as uh as everybody else was in

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Speaker 2: the outside of our locker room and organization.

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Speaker 4: I mean, there was so much talk in the second

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Speaker 4: half of the season that these playoffs are going to

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Speaker 4: be a referendum on the Joker his two MVPs, even

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Speaker 4: though the MVP is a regular season awards, Like why

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Speaker 4: are we even going there? But he seems completely unbothered

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Speaker 4: by this supposed pressure that these playoffs carried. What do

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Speaker 4: you see, I mean, how much is he even listening

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Speaker 4: to us?

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Speaker 2: Well? I think he typically tries to block all of

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Speaker 2: it out, but this year was just kind of like unavoidable,

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Speaker 2: especially after a regular season game in Pelly and you know,

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Speaker 2: and then the racing came into it, and I think

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Speaker 2: it was just I think it was a little bit

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Speaker 2: of a distraction for our team and probably a little bit,

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Speaker 2: you know, I took a little bit of a positive

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Speaker 2: energy and mojo away from our team just having to

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Speaker 2: deal with that whole narrative.

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Speaker 3: Hmm.

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Speaker 6: Okay, that's a interesting ce B.

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Speaker 5: When you look at the landscape of the league, how

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Speaker 5: teams are built. If you look at the Nuggets, it's

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Speaker 5: a pretty well rounded team from from top to bottom.

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Speaker 5: You know, you guys are pretty sturdy there. You know,

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Speaker 5: it used to be well, I would say for a

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Speaker 5: period there, teams would try to go after two superstars,

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Speaker 5: sometimes three, and on occasion we had one where where

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Speaker 5: you have four. But what what do you what do

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Speaker 5: you think the league is headed towards? You know that

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Speaker 5: with the new CVA that is coming in, it's like

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Speaker 5: it's going to make it harder to have that many

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Speaker 5: type of players on the team.

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Speaker 6: But what what is the ideal when you.

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Speaker 5: Talk to other executives out there or even just from

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Speaker 5: your perspective, what's the ideal way to build a team?

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Speaker 6: Is it even efficient? Is it even worth.

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Speaker 5: It to go after multiple superstars at one time? What's

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Speaker 5: your what's your take?

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Speaker 2: I just think this is kind of a pop out,

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Speaker 2: But I don't think there's one singular answer. It depends

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Speaker 2: on where the team is at the development art, depends

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Speaker 2: on who your superstar is. I mean our case, we

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Speaker 2: have we have stars. We have Michael Porter Jr. This is, like,

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Speaker 2: you know, the best player in this class for the

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Speaker 2: longest time. He's had a lot of injuries and stuff,

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Speaker 2: and we paid them with max contract and I felt

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Speaker 2: like he's played up to that this year. I mean,

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Speaker 2: obviously I have Jamal and Joker. I think the thing

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Speaker 2: is it's just that our best players are easy to

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Speaker 2: play with and they have well rounded games, so it's

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Speaker 2: it's easy to like identify guys that will fit with them,

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Speaker 2: and there's a lot of kind of guys that can

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Speaker 2: fit with them. So I think that's why our team

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Speaker 2: seems like it's so seamless in that way. The credit

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Speaker 2: to Joker, Jamal, I mean the job Malone does everybody

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Speaker 2: in at S thirty five, which I think is the

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Speaker 2: best starty five in basketball.

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Speaker 4: I can't resist asking this because I'm just curious, like,

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Speaker 4: how often in a staff meeting will you guys all

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Speaker 4: just look at each other and say you believe that

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Speaker 4: Yokid slipped all the way to number forty one in

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Speaker 4: the draft, Like, obviously that's not new news. Obviously his

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Speaker 4: career arc has been well chronicled at this point. But

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Speaker 4: I just whenever I hear that number, I still can't

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Speaker 4: get over it. Forty first pick in the draft to

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Speaker 4: two time MVP and.

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Speaker 5: Style hold up before CB answer that I saw on

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Speaker 5: social media a few days ago that when Joker was

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Speaker 5: actually selected, it was it was during commercial break, so.

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Speaker 6: You didn't really get to see Joker. There's day call,

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Speaker 6: but go ahead and see me. Go ahead.

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Speaker 2: No, I mean, I think for me, it's all going

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Speaker 2: back to the Hoops summit and I was there a

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Speaker 2: much a lot of executives, and he was doing all

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Speaker 2: the same stuff he's doing now, and I felt like

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Speaker 2: it was kind of like a funny. It was kind

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Speaker 2: of like a joke. Oh man, like, look he's kind

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Speaker 2: of doing it or whatever. And I'm always remember like

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Speaker 2: I felt like I think Capella was in that Hoops Summit,

363
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Speaker 2: and I know coming into he was supposed to be

364
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Speaker 2: like a lottery picking. Uh. You know, his stock dropped

365
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Speaker 2: a little bit because of you know what happened to

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Speaker 2: Hoops Summit. But like looking back on it's like, really

367
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Speaker 2: no shame in being outplayed by Nicola yelpis right, like,

368
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Speaker 2: but nobody you know, well, obviously the guys in Denver

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Speaker 2: valued him and they got him to stay in the drivet.

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Speaker 2: But like to your point, Mark, nobody like said, oh man,

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Speaker 2: I believe in this coast to coast layup or you know,

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Speaker 2: him throwing this crazy past there's three point shot so

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Speaker 2: much so that I think he's a first rounder, right,

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Speaker 2: you know, very few people had that kind of foresight.

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Speaker 5: Give me your initial thoughts now that he's in the

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Speaker 5: league and now that you're deal with the Nuggets, your

377
00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:45,800
Speaker 5: initial thought on his ceiling at this time, because we

378
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Speaker 5: knew he was solid, but to see him become.

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Speaker 6: This player, I don't. I could definitely couldn't say I

380
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Speaker 6: saw it.

381
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Speaker 2: It's kind of interesting, man, because I you know, came

382
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Speaker 2: from Minnesota and thought the world of Andrew Wiggins and

383
00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:01,479
Speaker 2: Carltown's upside. I thought those guys were really talented, We're

384
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Speaker 2: going to do great things in the league. But like

385
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:06,359
Speaker 2: having said that, watching one open gym with Joker, I

386
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,080
Speaker 2: was like, man, he's he's better than those guys. That

387
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:13,080
Speaker 2: was Yeah, that was that was pretty impactful to I

388
00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,159
Speaker 2: think that because I didn't before watching him in person

389
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Speaker 2: those couple of days, I wouldn't have thought that, like right,

390
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:21,639
Speaker 2: you know, because definitely come from the Wolves and having

391
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Speaker 2: a you know, the Timberwolves like glasses on, you know,

392
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Speaker 2: think of those guys are going to be the eventual

393
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Speaker 2: you know, duo that would do great things in the

394
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Speaker 2: Western Conference. And seeing this guy that was in Denver,

395
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Speaker 2: I was like, man, this guy's better than both those guys.

396
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Speaker 2: And I think that was just starting to at the

397
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Speaker 2: beginning of people recognizing how good Joker was.

398
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Speaker 3: You've been at this for a while.

399
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Speaker 4: Now, what point in your playing career did you think,

400
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,480
Speaker 4: you know what, when I'm done, I want to go

401
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:51,040
Speaker 4: to the front office route this is.

402
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,480
Speaker 3: This is being part of building teams is what I

403
00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:54,959
Speaker 3: want to do.

404
00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 2: I mean I became interested. I think, you know, as

405
00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:02,360
Speaker 2: a player, when when you the processes, when you come

406
00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:05,600
Speaker 2: out of college, you start watching college a lot. The

407
00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:07,800
Speaker 2: first year, maybe even to the second year, because you

408
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:09,840
Speaker 2: still know a lot of guys. But then you get

409
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,000
Speaker 2: to that point in career where you watch NBA basketball

410
00:21:12,080 --> 00:21:14,439
Speaker 2: you're playing it or you're price, and you kind of

411
00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,800
Speaker 2: get away from it. And so I han't said that

412
00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:19,439
Speaker 2: around the two thousand and eight draft. You know, I

413
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:22,920
Speaker 2: think I was playing in two thousand and seven eight.

414
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:28,320
Speaker 2: I was actually in Washington, I believe, so no or

415
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,159
Speaker 2: I could have been enough Philly. I was in Philly.

416
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Speaker 2: So I remember watching that draft and spent a lot

417
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Speaker 2: of time scouting and her parent it was a it

418
00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:39,040
Speaker 2: was a great draft to start off with. Man, there's

419
00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,879
Speaker 2: so many great players in that draft. I wonder if

420
00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:44,600
Speaker 2: I would have been as interest in scouting if I'd

421
00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,159
Speaker 2: come in a barren draft, right, But like you know,

422
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,440
Speaker 2: you're watching Derrick Rose and Beasley and Rustbrook and Mayo

423
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,480
Speaker 2: and Kevin Love and all these guys, and you know,

424
00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:57,920
Speaker 2: I just I thought it was a very fascinating thing

425
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Speaker 2: to try to figure out who would translate and who would.

426
00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:05,840
Speaker 5: When you think about this matchup now with the Miami

427
00:22:05,880 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 5: Heat and everybody, I can say everybody, but for the

428
00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:14,560
Speaker 5: most part, you guys are considered the favorites, but also

429
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:17,880
Speaker 5: you've been you had a lot of downtime, and you're

430
00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,000
Speaker 5: going into this series against the Heat.

431
00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:21,440
Speaker 6: What is the concern?

432
00:22:22,840 --> 00:22:25,480
Speaker 2: Well, I mean the Miami Heat and the culture and

433
00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 2: what they built, what they're created, and the players they

434
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:30,159
Speaker 2: have over there, the coach they have over there, and

435
00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:33,840
Speaker 2: the belief they have in themselves. You have to respect that, right.

436
00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,200
Speaker 2: If you don't have the proper amount of respect for that,

437
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 2: then they're probably in a bad way.

438
00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:44,639
Speaker 4: I think we're contractually obligated to bring up rest versus rust,

439
00:22:44,960 --> 00:22:47,679
Speaker 4: or else they're going to take away our credentials because obviously,

440
00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:51,000
Speaker 4: you guys, it's been it will have been nine full

441
00:22:51,119 --> 00:22:54,360
Speaker 4: days without a playoff game by the time Game one

442
00:22:54,400 --> 00:22:59,200
Speaker 4: tips off Thursday night. What's been the approach in house

443
00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:02,720
Speaker 4: for you guys dealing with such a such an extended break.

444
00:23:03,600 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 2: And I think the coaches and players done a fantastic

445
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,520
Speaker 2: job of like picking the spots when to work and

446
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,480
Speaker 2: when to take breaks, and trying to do the best

447
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:17,359
Speaker 2: you can to stay ready and and rested headed into

448
00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 2: tomorrow's game.

449
00:23:19,359 --> 00:23:21,960
Speaker 4: What's your game watching routine? How hard is it for

450
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,439
Speaker 4: you to just having played? How hard is it for

451
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:26,840
Speaker 4: you to just sit there and watch.

452
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,080
Speaker 2: It's not hard at all. I think, like, you know,

453
00:23:30,119 --> 00:23:32,439
Speaker 2: when the game, when the series get tight and stuff

454
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 2: like that, it becomes a lot harder. I like, I

455
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:37,040
Speaker 2: remember being in the bubble and uh, you know, the

456
00:23:37,040 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 2: playoffs started. We're playing Utah in the first couple of

457
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:42,639
Speaker 2: you know, the first couple of games, and so I'm like,

458
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 2: oh man, this is about to be in the playoffs.

459
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:48,600
Speaker 2: It's like no, no, no energy or tension or anything

460
00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,320
Speaker 2: in here. And then by the time it was game seven,

461
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 2: it might as well have been like one hundred thousand

462
00:23:52,040 --> 00:23:57,240
Speaker 2: people on that and that empty, empty arena in Orlando.

463
00:23:57,440 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 2: So I think, you know, when when this theory gets tighter,

464
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:03,240
Speaker 2: and you know, the end of games and fourth quarters,

465
00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:08,239
Speaker 2: especially if the closer you come to approaching the end

466
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 2: of the season series or conclusion of it, and that's

467
00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,720
Speaker 2: when the most tension of pressure comes. But other than that,

468
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,240
Speaker 2: I think it's pretty It's just I try to enjoy

469
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:17,600
Speaker 2: throughout the game and watch it.

470
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,280
Speaker 5: And my last thing, see, I want to ask you

471
00:24:21,359 --> 00:24:23,520
Speaker 5: about your own personal goals.

472
00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,640
Speaker 6: We talked about your team and how.

473
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:30,120
Speaker 5: They some of them may feel slided by the lack

474
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:33,880
Speaker 5: of awards recognition, but I brought up what you did

475
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,399
Speaker 5: in that short timeframe this past year for a reason.

476
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:39,720
Speaker 5: I think you definitely should be up there when you're

477
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:42,960
Speaker 5: talking about Executive of the Year awards. I know you don't,

478
00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:44,800
Speaker 5: you know, probably don't want to get too much into it,

479
00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:47,640
Speaker 5: but man, just looking at everything you've done, you made

480
00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:48,200
Speaker 5: a trade.

481
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:49,400
Speaker 6: You made a trade as well too.

482
00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:49,919
Speaker 2: You know, the.

483
00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:53,359
Speaker 5: Nuggets had some adversity as well. But everything you've done,

484
00:24:53,400 --> 00:24:56,800
Speaker 5: you righted the ship and you put pieces together and

485
00:24:56,840 --> 00:25:00,639
Speaker 5: they fit and I don't think the Nuggets have gotten

486
00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 5: a lot of recognition from that standpoint. So is that

487
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:06,760
Speaker 5: something like when you're talking about your peers in the game,

488
00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,160
Speaker 5: it's called the general manager, the president of basketball operations

489
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 5: in this lead the personnel. Do you look at that

490
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,800
Speaker 5: and say, like, man, I want to be mentioned amongst

491
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,359
Speaker 5: the top, especially this year.

492
00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:20,600
Speaker 6: Is that something that you gravitate towards.

493
00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 2: I mean, you've seen some of the guys that have been

494
00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:25,720
Speaker 2: around for a long time, you know, and had a

495
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 2: lot of success, and I think you know, following your

496
00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:33,399
Speaker 2: path and having having a career and having sustability and

497
00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:37,560
Speaker 2: having your the organization proven you're under your watch, it's

498
00:25:37,640 --> 00:25:41,479
Speaker 2: much more important than mean than an award, if I'm correct,

499
00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:43,879
Speaker 2: I don't think Sam Presty's ever won that award, Like

500
00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:47,000
Speaker 2: you know, He's definitely been an Executive of the Year before, right,

501
00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:48,560
Speaker 2: and so I don't I don't put a lot of

502
00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,880
Speaker 2: stock in that in that particular award. You know, I'll

503
00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:55,840
Speaker 2: give a lot to have Sam's career at this point.

504
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:57,600
Speaker 2: You know, I think he's had a great career in

505
00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:00,840
Speaker 2: the business, and so if he hasn't had awards, who

506
00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,480
Speaker 2: am out to win the award? Right? You know That's

507
00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:04,520
Speaker 2: why I kind of look at it.

508
00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 5: Well, I'm not gonna say that's a cop out, but

509
00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,720
Speaker 5: I get your point. You definitely deserve you definitely deserve

510
00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:12,640
Speaker 5: to get your recognition, brother, And I wanted to make

511
00:26:12,680 --> 00:26:15,399
Speaker 5: sure we you know, glad you came on, agreed to

512
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,840
Speaker 5: come on because I wanted to definitely highlight what you've

513
00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,800
Speaker 5: done behind the scenes and putting together a roster that

514
00:26:21,359 --> 00:26:23,919
Speaker 5: you know, this is championship building right here. And I

515
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,679
Speaker 5: know it's not somebody's out on the door, but I

516
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:28,880
Speaker 5: know I know that the road is not done.

517
00:26:28,920 --> 00:26:32,199
Speaker 6: You still got you get the Miami Heat coming up.

518
00:26:32,320 --> 00:26:34,399
Speaker 6: So but h c B.

519
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 5: I appreciate you taking the time, brother, best of luck

520
00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,040
Speaker 5: unto you and the rest of the way, and I'll

521
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 5: see you down there at some point during the final.

522
00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,240
Speaker 5: I'll definitely see you in Miami on South Beacht.

523
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,679
Speaker 4: Yes, sir our, thanks to Calvin Booth for joining us

524
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,840
Speaker 4: on the eve of the NBA Finals. That will do

525
00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,439
Speaker 4: it for this edition of this League, Uncut, Chris and

526
00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 4: I back soon with more on the finals, more on

527
00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:09,359
Speaker 4: the coaching carousel, more on everything else happening around this league.

528
00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:15,399
Speaker 4: As always, please until next time, rate review and subscribe

529
00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,920
Speaker 4: to the show on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get

530
00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:19,560
Speaker 4: your pods.

531
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:25,880
Speaker 1: Talk soon, everybody, and that'll do it for us. See

532
00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:30,280
Speaker 1: you next time. This League on Cutage and iHeartRadio Production

533
00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:36,959
Speaker 1: Christines and Mark Stein