Speaker 1: All right, sorry guys for those who were expecting a
Speaker 1: live podcast and an actual podcast. Wednesday, I lost my voice.
Speaker 1: I got laryngitis. Went to the doctor that told me
Speaker 1: to rest for somewhere between seven to ten days.
Speaker 2: I told him absolutely not. So I gave her.
Speaker 1: I gave her Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, I gave her
Speaker 1: four days.
Speaker 2: We split the difference when you talk for a living.
Speaker 1: Let's just really quickly say, there's all kinds of bad
Speaker 1: thoughts that go through your head when you can't project,
Speaker 1: nothing's coming out, just like it's a whisper.
Speaker 2: You think you're talking like this, and I could project
Speaker 2: pretty well. It was a whisper.
Speaker 1: Like people who have never uttered these words to me
Speaker 1: were uttering them all the time.
Speaker 2: What'd you say? Uh, what'd you say? Sorry? One more time?
Speaker 2: Would you say? I said I'd like a hot tea?
Speaker 2: It's like I like a hot tea. It's a very
Speaker 2: nine hundred.
Speaker 1: I actually got out a text the next day because
Speaker 1: I do these beat the Books things on all of
Speaker 1: our Odyssey stations, and it's like, you know, whatever, we
Speaker 1: guess I'm betting trend. And I did it on Tuesday
Speaker 1: before the show, before they kicked me out and and
Speaker 1: I could tell it was like very nine hundred.
Speaker 2: Like Ryan, my co host, was like, it sounds so
Speaker 2: I'm getting kind of turned on right now.
Speaker 1: I get a text the next day from the PD
Speaker 1: from WFA and he was like, hey, Trista, this is
Speaker 1: a long story short. He's like, hey, something was weird
Speaker 1: with that beat the books today? What was happening?
Speaker 2: Question Mark?
Speaker 1: Question Mark question Mark? And I laughed and I was like,
Speaker 1: I had larryn giitis. I had to get sent home.
Speaker 2: He goes. Honestly, I didn't think much of it. I
Speaker 2: knew it was weird.
Speaker 1: And then another PD reached out to me and was like,
Speaker 1: what's going on with trisda? Is she trying out sexy?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: It's like nothing I love more than a good run
Speaker 1: line trend.
Speaker 2: Anyway. Anyway, that's all that to say I'm sorry. All
Speaker 2: that to say I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Uh, Before we talk about the Warriors as we suspected,
Speaker 1: coming back to life in Boston, which is what they did,
Speaker 1: as we knew that they would because it's Warriors and seven,
Speaker 1: Let's get into a little news. After James Barrego was
Speaker 1: inexplicably fired, everything Okay, after James Brego was inexplicably fired
Speaker 1: with his team consistently improving year after year after year
Speaker 1: despite nobody liking to play defense.
Speaker 3: I e.
Speaker 1: Kelly oubre former Nets head coach current Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson,
Speaker 1: known for his player development acumen, has currently apsepted export.
Speaker 1: According to Sham's Pew.
Speaker 2: This is the bomb. This is the sun of the
Speaker 2: Shams Bomb.
Speaker 1: Anyway, he is now Charlott Hornet's head coach. He signed
Speaker 1: a four year deal, which shows you that Michael Jordan
Speaker 1: actually trusts him or has so much money than if
Speaker 1: he fires them. He doesn't care about having two coaches
Speaker 1: on payroll for two years. Because let's be honest, if
Speaker 1: Kenny Ikinson does.
Speaker 2: Get fired from Charlotte Waarance probably not.
Speaker 1: Gonna be intil you're three or four when players tune
Speaker 1: him out like they do Tom Thibodau.
Speaker 2: But I actually love this hire.
Speaker 1: Takes over one of the most exciting teams in the NBA.
Speaker 1: You've got ten players on this roster under twenty six
Speaker 1: years old. They have the thirteenth pick in this year's draft,
Speaker 1: which is fuck my fucking pick, Blazer's pick. Pretty far
Speaker 1: cry from rehabbing the careers of Spencer Dimwittie, Joe Harris,
Speaker 1: D'Angelo Russell, which he actually did by changing the culture
Speaker 1: of the Nets. He turned Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris
Speaker 1: after being out of the league altogether, to getting paid.
Speaker 1: Jared Allen got paid. People forget by the way, that
Speaker 1: Tatum and Brown were actually Nets draft picks. That's a
Speaker 1: little fun fact. Yeah, because of the the Boston trade
Speaker 1: that they did to send Paul Pierce and kg Deron
Speaker 1: Williams all that little scrub trade that they did, and
Speaker 1: he credited He's also credited with developing Jared Allen into
Speaker 1: what we now know as one of the best big
Speaker 1: men in the league.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: So this is what Greg Popovich had to say about
Speaker 1: Kenny Atkinson when he was turning things around with the Nets,
Speaker 1: because I went and found some old quotes about how
Speaker 1: he changed the culture there was, changing players, getting them
Speaker 1: to buy in. He said, the system is in there.
Speaker 1: Kenny set the standards and makes people accountable. They slowly
Speaker 1: but surely built a culture and all the things that
Speaker 1: have come from that are starting to show.
Speaker 2: So I'm happy for all of them. They've done a
Speaker 2: great job.
Speaker 1: And he did since resigning in twenty twenty because he
Speaker 1: was fired.
Speaker 2: KD fired him. He did.
Speaker 1: He's been on the bench in LA with Tyl Lou
Speaker 1: and now he got hired to be the developed development
Speaker 1: person on the Warriors, which is what, quite frankly, the
Speaker 1: Warriors were missing last year, and now you're getting you
Speaker 1: Jordan Poole to take a step, Andrew Wiggins to take
Speaker 1: a step, and both teams really vastly. While he was there,
Speaker 1: Steve Kurse said this about Kenny. It's still coming back, folks,
Speaker 1: Laryn Jay has still come back. One of the reasons
Speaker 1: I hired Kenny was his feel for analytics. Kenny's really
Speaker 1: well versed on that stuff. He's a believer in it.
Speaker 1: This year has been the first time we've ever achieved
Speaker 1: the right balance balance between analytics and the eye test.
Speaker 1: Either people are in the nerd camp or in the
Speaker 1: fuck the nerd camp. Kenny is the is the balance
Speaker 1: between them two. And now he's coaching a team that
Speaker 1: is young and exciting and can't play defense.
Speaker 2: Right, That's basically what Brooklyn was.
Speaker 1: Young and exciting, not really that exciting at the time,
Speaker 1: but young and couldn't play defense. That was a team
Speaker 1: that he took over in Brooklyn, it was twenty ninth
Speaker 1: in defen defensive efficiency he took over, and then like that,
Speaker 1: thirteenth in defensive deficiency in his final year. Right, So
Speaker 1: not like the most Migliciles's. The pieces in the NETS
Speaker 1: organization weren't amazing to get them in the top five
Speaker 1: a defensive efficiency. Let's be serious and remember this was
Speaker 1: done without any real player or roster changes, right, no stars.
Speaker 1: You could say that D'Angelo Russell at the time was
Speaker 1: a star, but let's look at him now, he's on
Speaker 1: the trade block. He's not a real like superstar superstar,
Speaker 1: and Kenny Atkinson developed him in a way that D'Angelo
Speaker 1: Russell said really helped him. My prediction is Charlotte. Charlotte
Speaker 1: will be a playoff team next year.
Speaker 2: They were a play in team this year. There were
Speaker 2: only three four wins away from being five to six seed.
Speaker 1: I think that My guess is that they win forty
Speaker 1: eight games five they get five extra games.
Speaker 2: They won forty three this year, they get forty eight.
Speaker 1: They're the five of the six seed next year, and
Speaker 1: two years from real they get fifty wins, they're a
Speaker 1: top four seed. That's my guess I think the Nets
Speaker 1: take a big step back obviously. I think the Sixers
Speaker 1: can only go down from where they are. Bucks continue
Speaker 1: to reign supreme. I think Miami may take a step back,
Speaker 1: and Boston continues to be on this trajectory as well.
Speaker 1: So my prediction is that they've got all the pieces.
Speaker 1: If they can get any fucking thing out of Gordon Hayward, anything, anything,
Speaker 1: just anything, even if they trade them, don't care. Even
Speaker 1: if they get him to buy in on defense again,
Speaker 1: I don't care. But they've got Miles Bridges, they've got
Speaker 1: Lonzo Alonzo, they got LaMelo Ball. Wish they had Lonzo
Speaker 1: and LaMelo. They've got really good young Terry Rozier. They've
Speaker 1: got playmakers, they're exciting, good wings.
Speaker 2: PJ. Washington trying his very might to make a living
Speaker 2: when he knocked up Brittany Renner.
Speaker 1: So lots of things happening for the Hornets. All that
Speaker 1: stuff's very successful. Maybe he can turn James Booknight into something,
Speaker 1: who knows, who knows. My prediction, though, is things get
Speaker 1: vastly improved in Charlotte. Oh man, guys, let's move on.
Speaker 1: It was fun while it lasted. It would appear that
Speaker 1: the marriage of DeAndre Ayton in the Phoenix Suns is
Speaker 1: about to end. According to mark Stein, what seems clear,
Speaker 1: he says, with less than three weeks to go until
Speaker 1: free agency commences, is that Phoenix is increasingly expected to
Speaker 1: engage in serious sign and trade talks centered around Aighton,
Speaker 1: with external skepticism only rising regarding the Sun's willingness to
Speaker 1: make a healty, long term investment in the center. Let's
Speaker 1: be honest, Da, it's bad timing for you dog. You've
Speaker 1: got an owner who's probably about to lose ownership, and
Speaker 1: you're not putting out two hundred and fifty million dollars
Speaker 1: right before you sell a team. And I think that
Speaker 1: there's going to be hayah, a guillotine on our man,
Speaker 1: Robert Sarver. Things are going to come down the pipe.
Speaker 1: The investigation has been going on for almost a year now,
Speaker 1: so listen, things are ruminating. Bubbling will say, obviously like
Speaker 1: an announcement of him being forced Donald Sterling like out,
Speaker 1: it's gonna happen in the NBA finals. But I promise
Speaker 1: you it's probably gonna happen sometime soon, and it might
Speaker 1: be before free agency, it might be after free agency.
Speaker 1: It might be before the season, but I know what's happening,
Speaker 1: and I know the Robert Starver is not gonna want
Speaker 1: to pay DeAndre Ayton in the midst of all that.
Speaker 1: So now Stein believes Aiighten is the most prominent player.
Speaker 2: That will switch teams. Good news for me, good news
Speaker 2: for my team.
Speaker 1: His agent, Bill Duffy, who's also an awesome guy, went
Speaker 1: on NBA Radio just the other day and said, this
Speaker 1: things will work out for DeAndre.
Speaker 2: He's a valuable player. And you know what, there's other
Speaker 2: teams in the league as well. This is true, twenty
Speaker 2: nine other teams.
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton is a restricted free agent, meaning that he
Speaker 1: must do a sign in trade in order to make
Speaker 1: that move, or possibly he can go into the last
Speaker 1: five and final year and be a complete free agent,
Speaker 1: which mark Stein does not think will happen. The chances
Speaker 1: are not great for him staying in Phoenix. I don't
Speaker 1: know what Chris Paul is gonna do. This team is
Speaker 1: significantly worse without DeAndre Ayton. If you're a basketball you
Speaker 1: know how many high screens DeAndre Ayton sets for Devin
Speaker 1: Booker and Chris Paul to turn into easy buckets, either
Speaker 1: turning to pull up jays or turn into rolls lobs
Speaker 1: for DA or for whoever else on the.
Speaker 2: Wing, like a drive in kick scenario.
Speaker 1: So DA is very very underrated player in my opinion,
Speaker 1: and I think he's gonna probably make more money going
Speaker 1: elsewhere if he stays one additional year and does a
Speaker 1: sign in trade. But I don't think he's going to
Speaker 1: leave eight figures on the table and maybe risking injury.
Speaker 1: So the latest is that the Sons are now taking
Speaker 1: inquiries yes on a sign and trade for DeAndre.
Speaker 2: Where will he end up? That's a good question. San
Speaker 2: Antonio is on the table, that'd be an awesome spot
Speaker 2: for him.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine this, motherfucker, Jake Craig Popovich, you get
Speaker 1: come on, it's an embarrassment of riches. We'll give you,
Speaker 1: yaka peerdl No, we'll give you. So you have David
Speaker 1: Robinson and then you get Tim Duncan.
Speaker 2: Do you know what he would do with Da? Stop it?
Speaker 2: Stop it please?
Speaker 1: Uh? Toronto is another landing spot that people are talking about,
Speaker 1: which would be excellent for what they do. DeAndre Ayton
Speaker 1: can switch on defense, very athletic, put the ball in
Speaker 1: his hand, he'd be a perfect fit there. What they
Speaker 1: would get for him, maybe like an og and Anobi.
Speaker 1: Maybe a young piece would be nice, little move move
Speaker 1: litt'll win win. Portland potentially will give you, Like I said,
Speaker 1: we'll give you Nurkic and Anfrety Simons.
Speaker 2: How about that?
Speaker 1: What about Drew EU Banks as the backup center? Will
Speaker 1: give you NRK, Drew U Banks and Anthrety Simons. Listen,
Speaker 1: Anthony Simons will play the one when Chris Paul retires,
Speaker 1: He'll come off the bench and you can give us
Speaker 1: back campaign and DeAndre Aiden. Detroit and Atlanta are also
Speaker 1: the leading landing spots. But for me, I've got one
Speaker 1: destination in mind that I think DeAndre Aiden would.
Speaker 2: Be perfect for Chicago Wolves. I think that would be
Speaker 2: an awesome spot for him.
Speaker 1: They need defense, they need somebody to stop the gaping
Speaker 1: hole that is Nicola Vusovich.
Speaker 2: Because he doesn't play defense.
Speaker 1: You could pair him with Patrick Williams kind of like
Speaker 1: a nice little balance between what they both bring to
Speaker 1: the table. And especially if zach Lavine goes somewhere else,
Speaker 1: which like if you're gonna pay either Zach Lavine or
Speaker 1: DeAndre Ayton, I don't even know what to say. I
Speaker 1: don't even know what to say. Does Zach Lavine fit
Speaker 1: with Devin Booker? Probably not, I don't think so. But
Speaker 1: you could do like a three team trade get something back.
Speaker 1: And I actually think the bull swapping Zach for DeAndre
Speaker 1: is probably a huge upgrade, huge, huge upgrade, because let's
Speaker 1: be honest, their issue is is defense healthy. Crusoe, you
Speaker 1: got Lonzo, Ball, you got Ayton. Come on now, like
Speaker 1: this becomes a really good defensive team overnight. Then you
Speaker 1: got Tomorrow Rosen too, Demarta Rosen, Lonzo if he ever
Speaker 1: comes back, Caruso, Patrick Williams Ayton, Like this was a
Speaker 1: six seed.
Speaker 2: Now what do they become next year? I don't know,
Speaker 2: maybe a five, maybe a four, or but just maybe
Speaker 2: a six seed that actually ends up competing in the
Speaker 2: first round instead of just getting absolutely mollywomped in the
Speaker 2: first round. And of course, as you guys know, I
Speaker 2: would love to see him with Dame Lollard. I would
Speaker 2: love to see him setting high picks for game Lillard. Yes,
Speaker 2: and maybe if we could keep Anfretty.
Speaker 1: Simon's I'm in on that, or maybe we get DeAndre
Speaker 1: Ayton and maybe another piece. I don't know, we'll have
Speaker 1: to see. I have to see how it all shakes out.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe we'll get AJ. Maybe we'll get AJ Griffin
Speaker 1: and DeAndre Ayton and we'll have Josh Hart still who
Speaker 1: knows the list of possibilities for us is endless, endless.
Speaker 4: I tell you, oh man, how insane has step been?
Speaker 1: He has been insane thirty four and a half.
Speaker 2: There's round video. R is John here? John's here? John?
Speaker 2: What's up? John? Where are you?
Speaker 3: What's up? I'm at Chase Center right now, live, ready
Speaker 3: to roll.
Speaker 2: I'm at Chase Yo. How insane is Steph? Right now?
Speaker 3: Incredible? I mean, it's it's all time legendary type stuff?
Speaker 3: Here is this is MJ or magic or bird all
Speaker 3: in real time? Lebron, you want to throw him in
Speaker 3: any of the greats of the greats. He's putting his
Speaker 3: name right up there by the way.
Speaker 2: You look really good.
Speaker 1: I was just about because I didn't know when you
Speaker 1: were gonna come on, so I was just about to
Speaker 1: say that I think that we as fans are benefiting
Speaker 1: from Steph not having as many pieces around. Right, You've
Speaker 1: got clay, but clay's not one hundred percent of the
Speaker 1: clay that we're used to seeing right, you've got no KD.
Speaker 1: So it's a different team than Steph's ever had before,
Speaker 1: to the point where, especially considering I think that he's
Speaker 1: playing a better team overall.
Speaker 2: Than he's ever played in the finals before.
Speaker 1: So he has to put the team on his back,
Speaker 1: which kind of makes it a lot better for fans
Speaker 1: because we get to see what Steph is capable of
Speaker 1: in ways that we maybe never really gotten the pleasure
Speaker 1: of seeing because he's such a good playmaker.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and the Celtics taking the Warriors offense away is
Speaker 3: a big part of that as well. I mean, it's
Speaker 3: the Warriors want to have the open flow ball movement,
Speaker 3: but it's had to be because their defense is so elite.
Speaker 3: It's had to really be Steph versus the world in
Speaker 3: a lot of ways for the Warriors to win in
Speaker 3: this series. And that's what it was in Game four,
Speaker 3: and he saved him. He did enough to save them.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, Andrew Wiggins kind of being up
Speaker 3: and down, and Klay Thompson not really being around aside
Speaker 3: from a few big shots in a couple of these games,
Speaker 3: and Jordan Poole non existent, all of that.
Speaker 2: Non existent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's been non existent and for a
Speaker 3: good bulk of the series. Third quarter really the end
Speaker 3: of the third quarter of Game two, and he played
Speaker 3: a pretty good game in Game four. I would say
Speaker 3: up until Game four non existent. They got enough from
Speaker 3: the others in the game Friday, but still they don't
Speaker 3: win it if Steph doesn't go all time legend and
Speaker 3: put forty three up and just with phenomenal shot making,
Speaker 3: and I mean any one or two of those shots
Speaker 3: rim out or a little bit short. I mean, we
Speaker 3: may be talking about the Celtics trying to try to
Speaker 3: close this thing out tonight in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: Now that you came on early, I just want to
Speaker 1: give you a little intro welcoming to the show. My
Speaker 1: guy John Dickinson, who hosts the pre and post game
Speaker 1: Warriors Show on Austine station ninety five point seven, the
Speaker 1: game radio home of Golden State. He also hosts the
Speaker 1: Warriors This Week podcast.
Speaker 2: Do you remember how we met?
Speaker 3: Yeah, we met in Toronto? Right or was it? Did
Speaker 3: we meet in Toronto?
Speaker 2: It might have been Toronto.
Speaker 3: During that series. It might have been in San Francisco
Speaker 3: at the charity game. Was it at the charity basketball game?
Speaker 1: It might have been the Cherry Basketball game, so to
Speaker 1: give people a little context, that was hosted by Chris
Speaker 1: Haynes and Yahoo at the time.
Speaker 2: I think we ended up speaking of Steph. I think
Speaker 2: it was at Steph's Jim.
Speaker 1: Yeah, under armored Jim outside of SF and John Dickinson
Speaker 1: does what John Dickinson does so well, which is man
Speaker 1: of many traits. Played played some hoop in the charity
Speaker 1: game media game, and also was the broadcaster on it.
Speaker 1: And I believe you did a postgame interview with me
Speaker 1: because I was the player that of No, I don't
Speaker 1: even know why they gave that to me. I think
Speaker 1: I took a really hard Ethan Strauss check. He knocked
Speaker 1: my ass to the ground on it, Like I remember,
Speaker 1: my chest caved in and everybody could hear it. The fan,
Speaker 1: you know, like the people who were related to the
Speaker 1: media members and the bank, and they were like, god, damn,
Speaker 1: that looked like it hurt.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that makes sense. I think you nailed it there. Yes,
Speaker 3: I interviewed you after that game, and yeah, you were
Speaker 3: a quote machine. I remember that.
Speaker 2: I was like the I was like.
Speaker 1: The guard version of Draymond Green before Draymond Green decided
Speaker 1: he wanted to go.
Speaker 2: To the media.
Speaker 3: Yes with the game of say Damon Stodomyer or Nick.
Speaker 1: Without without the I remember after that game being like, listen,
Speaker 1: I need to get my cardio up because it was rough.
Speaker 2: It was rough.
Speaker 1: Janey was playing in that game. Any who else There
Speaker 1: was a couple of other women media members. You know
Speaker 1: what I want to segue to really fast is I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about Draymond Green in his pod.
Speaker 2: Like do you know why that ended up getting started?
Speaker 1: When it got started, and kind of like, what's your
Speaker 1: thoughts on him as an obvious star because he's been
Speaker 1: a quote machine his entire career, but also just him
Speaker 1: as like balancing the I have a pod and I'm
Speaker 1: also a player at the same exact time.
Speaker 3: I think it's an opportunity to do something completely different
Speaker 3: that nobody had really done before, to be a player
Speaker 3: that's in the mix, hopefully at the highest level. I think,
Speaker 3: really if he could have done it a couple of
Speaker 3: years ago when the Warriors were in two, three, four
Speaker 3: five finals in a row and winning three of the
Speaker 3: five and all of that, I think he would have
Speaker 3: loved to have been doing it then. But I think
Speaker 3: it's really something unprecedented for a player that's on the
Speaker 3: highest stage to be able to be also one of
Speaker 3: the best talkers in the league and then do both
Speaker 3: at the same time and be able to constantly address
Speaker 3: anything he wants to address, whether it's his own game,
Speaker 3: whether it's his team's game, whether it's some of the
Speaker 3: chatter or the noise or social media. He still does
Speaker 3: all the regular media sessions, so I think everybody loves
Speaker 3: him for that, and occasionally, well all the time, he'll
Speaker 3: use those media sessions to try and promote the podcast
Speaker 3: in any way possible. But I think he just sees
Speaker 3: himself as a pioneer, really, somebody that's the first of
Speaker 3: many move moving forward that are i think not only
Speaker 3: going to want to play and play at a high level,
Speaker 3: but also be media members at the same time. It's
Speaker 3: not something that's that's frowned upon like it used to be.
Speaker 3: I mean, CJ McCollums got his thing. I mean, niggod
Speaker 3: Alla's doing his podcast. I mean, I think the next
Speaker 3: generation of player is going to be taken after Draymond
Speaker 3: Green in that way and wanting to to really be
Speaker 3: multi platform. But Draymond's in his own category. I mean,
Speaker 3: I think we're going to be talking about Draymond thirty
Speaker 3: years from now as Oh wow, he's been one of
Speaker 3: the greatest broadcasters, analysts, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 2: You got a question about basketball. Do you remember what
Speaker 2: he did like that?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I do remember that. I do remember that.
Speaker 2: That's when I.
Speaker 1: Knew that man was a cold blooded killer.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: I think that's the thing. As we listened to a
Speaker 2: little I think there's some Bay Area yay Area music.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they just cranked up the PA, so I had
Speaker 3: to just crank up my make sure I can hear you.
Speaker 3: Hopefully that's not drowned day out? Is it good on that?
Speaker 2: I think we're good. I think we're good. You know.
Speaker 1: The thing that I think is interesting is you think
Speaker 1: about media, or you think about players that are in
Speaker 1: the media or at least like doing media stuff, which
Speaker 1: is Kad who's got thirty five ventures and he lives
Speaker 1: on Twitter, so he knows how he's perceived.
Speaker 2: And then he's got Graymon, who I think with the.
Speaker 1: Podcast, maybe because he's wanting to engage with the stand
Speaker 1: base and grow this pod. So there's a certain element
Speaker 1: he almost feels the same things that we feel, where
Speaker 1: it's like we need to be on social media and
Speaker 1: we need to kind of see how things are working
Speaker 1: or whether they're not working. And maybe there's a possibility
Speaker 1: I'd like to know kind of where whether you think
Speaker 1: this is true or not, is that maybe there's a
Speaker 1: slight bit of him tapping a little too much in
Speaker 1: to the way and what people are saying about him,
Speaker 1: not just like quote unquote blue check media in print,
Speaker 1: but what fans are saying about his play.
Speaker 2: When he talked about maybe, you know, being a little
Speaker 2: bit too much in his head.
Speaker 3: I think he just loves talking period. I mean, I
Speaker 3: should he have admitted that, I mean, maybe not, but
Speaker 3: I think he just he just loves talking. I think
Speaker 3: somebody asked him in between maybe Game three and Game four,
Speaker 3: like do you ever get sick of it? And I
Speaker 3: think maybe sam Amok the Athletic wrote about it. It
Speaker 3: just he didn't get sick of it. He just wan
Speaker 3: he loves always being on to your point. I think
Speaker 3: he loves the platitudes and the analysis. But I also
Speaker 3: think he enjoys when things maybe aren't going as well,
Speaker 3: trying to address it or trying to call somebody out
Speaker 3: or trying to say, hey, you know, what this take
Speaker 3: is kind of bs and even though maybe something maybe
Speaker 3: where they's smoke, there's fire in a small way, but
Speaker 3: it's not exactly the same way that things are messed
Speaker 3: up and maybe the way that you think. And here's why,
Speaker 3: I think it's just raw and which is what Draymond is.
Speaker 3: Love him or hate him, and in the Bay he's loved.
Speaker 3: In Boston right now and in some other cities, he's
Speaker 3: public enemy number one, and that's fine. I think he
Speaker 3: embraces all of it and enjoys it and and really appreciates.
Speaker 3: I think he appreciates the respect that comes with somebody
Speaker 3: you know that is always going to be gravitated towards.
Speaker 2: Do you think there's any correlation though, between him tapping
Speaker 2: in to the to the public right now with the
Speaker 2: pod and.
Speaker 1: Maybe some of his play that's suffering because he said,
Speaker 1: like what I'm hearing about myself has got me kind
Speaker 1: of thinking about things differently and over analyzing myself.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's possible. I think it's it always
Speaker 3: comes up when the Warriors lose or when he doesn't
Speaker 3: play well, even here in the Bay, it always comes up.
Speaker 3: I mean we after Game three to call after call
Speaker 3: after call, Draymond's got to put the microphone down and
Speaker 3: put the hell set the podcast aside until the finals
Speaker 3: are over, and he's got to focus on basketball in
Speaker 3: this series and helping Steph and trying to figure out
Speaker 3: who he can defend and can he score more than
Speaker 3: two points? And so I think he's aware of it.
Speaker 3: But I also think he's such a defiant personality in general.
Speaker 3: There's a part of him well, he is extremely thoughtful
Speaker 3: and philosophical and analytical and all of that. I think
Speaker 3: there's a part of him though that's defiant. He's like,
Speaker 3: forget this. Y'all are telling me that that I'm in
Speaker 3: my in my head, or you're telling me that I
Speaker 3: need to put the podcast down or put the microphone down.
Speaker 3: I'm not doing that, no chance, because that's you're telling
Speaker 3: me to do it. If you're telling me to do it,
Speaker 3: then there's no way I'm doing it.
Speaker 1: I've got an audience to give to serve it up for,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to continue to serve it up for them.
Speaker 2: You know, it's.
Speaker 1: Interesting too, and the NFL as would never be allowed
Speaker 1: to happen, like never. Even Taylor lawan offensive lineman for
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Titans. As soon as the season is on,
Speaker 1: he is not allowed to do his podcast. Mike Rabel
Speaker 1: doesn't allow it. NFL frowns on it, NBA obviously embracing it.
Speaker 2: What does Steve Kerr think about it?
Speaker 3: He loves it, He hasn't, well, at least publicly. Yeah,
Speaker 3: he loves it. I mean I don't know that he necessary.
Speaker 3: I mean, Steve Kerr would never admit that he doesn't
Speaker 3: like it or isn't for it. He did jokingly. He
Speaker 3: said he got asked a question about something Draymond said
Speaker 3: on the pod and his answer within the last week
Speaker 3: was why I don't listen to the pod so and
Speaker 3: everybody got a good chuckle out of that. But he's
Speaker 3: always been the first one to say, hey, look this
Speaker 3: is uncharted waters, it's new territory. Guys can do what
Speaker 3: they want. It's not previous bygone eras. And look, I think,
Speaker 3: I mean, Steve Kerr is a pretty forward thinking dude,
Speaker 3: So he would be the last one I think that
Speaker 3: would frown upon something like that. But I think he
Speaker 3: also knows that it doesn't do anybody any good. If
Speaker 3: he frowned upon Draymond Green doing it. Considering that he
Speaker 3: is still the dude that's the heart and soul in
Speaker 3: many ways of this Warriors franchise. I mean, Steph is
Speaker 3: the system, Steph is the best player, Steph is the MVP,
Speaker 3: the legend, whatever. But Draymond still in many ways is
Speaker 3: the engine for the Warriors greatness. I mean, and really,
Speaker 3: and it's Steph and it's Draymond, and it's playing and
Speaker 3: it's just the three personality. It's the three style of games.
Speaker 3: But it's the three personalities being so different I think
Speaker 3: is a big part of why they've been able to
Speaker 3: last as long as they have and even get back
Speaker 3: to the point where they're two games away from maybe
Speaker 3: winning another chip. It's just their personalities fit and they
Speaker 3: don't offend, and it's the reason why there hasn't been
Speaker 3: all the drama between stars that exists I think in
Speaker 3: so many other places which is broken up. A lot
Speaker 3: of these would be champions and maybe even teams that
Speaker 3: have been able to get the job done.
Speaker 2: Yank, I think he is. I think Draymond's a Hall
Speaker 2: of Famer.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, you can talk about Dennis Rodman having
Speaker 1: more rebounds than Draymond, but Draymond being a better playmaker
Speaker 1: than Rodman, Draymond being more integral to the system than Rodman.
Speaker 1: Other people don't think that he is just based on
Speaker 1: his lack of offense and some of the other enforcers
Speaker 1: in the league that didn't get in. Where do you
Speaker 1: think he falls in terms of that.
Speaker 3: I think he's in for sure, And if he adds
Speaker 3: another chip here in the next week, I mean that
Speaker 3: that only furthers the argument for him. The Defensive Player
Speaker 3: of the Year, the All Defensive first team, second team
Speaker 3: accolades are right up there. I mean, just really the
Speaker 3: consummate winner. And I'll give you another one. I mean,
Speaker 3: in basketball, it's it's not just the NBA, right, It's
Speaker 3: it's the the He gets credit for the things that
Speaker 3: he did at Michigan State and leading them to Final fours,
Speaker 3: and and winning a lot there and and being really
Speaker 3: a you know, kind of a model college athlete in
Speaker 3: many ways, uh for for his generation. So I think
Speaker 3: he's a borderline lock to get too.
Speaker 1: I think he's like first ballot because you think about
Speaker 1: what Steph did to change and transform the game, but
Speaker 1: think about what Draymond did to transform the game.
Speaker 2: Tweeners are now.
Speaker 1: Something that we're all looking like every team, every GM
Speaker 1: is looking for their Draymond Green, a point forward with
Speaker 1: an otherworldly basketball IQ who can play make but also
Speaker 1: you know, knows how to get their star in rhythm.
Speaker 3: No, that's that's exactly right. I mean, yeah, everybody's looking
Speaker 3: for Draymond. I know, Squad, that's fond to your heart.
Speaker 3: The Portland Portland Trailblazers could have used to Draymond in
Speaker 3: the last eight years, right, maybe they had it would
Speaker 3: have a chip if they if they know the rockets
Speaker 3: for all the years that they battled the Warriors, maybe
Speaker 3: if they had a guy like Treymond, they'd have a
Speaker 3: chip or a couple at this point. So I think
Speaker 3: I think that's a great point. I mean gold medals
Speaker 3: as well, yep, And yeah, add that to the list.
Speaker 3: I mean, I I know you may get some pushback
Speaker 3: from from some that say, you know, just you look
Speaker 3: at the stats and all of this and triple single
Speaker 3: and and some of that kind of stuff. But I
Speaker 3: to me, he's he's a borderline lock. And if he's
Speaker 3: a four ring player with the medals, with the college success,
Speaker 3: I mean, to me, he's even there are people around
Speaker 3: here I don't know what your take is on this one,
Speaker 3: and maybe we don't have to go too deep into it.
Speaker 3: But I've always been kind of a no on Igdala
Speaker 3: being a Hall of Famer, But around here, I think
Speaker 3: because he's so beloved, I kind of mix it up
Speaker 3: with people on that one a little bit. A lot
Speaker 3: of people say, oh, he did this, this and this
Speaker 3: and the winning and and you know, being kind of
Speaker 3: the dude that's ahead of the game, and where are
Speaker 3: you on Igdala, I.
Speaker 1: Think I'm really borderline, like I need to go back
Speaker 1: to his time sure Denver and Philly to kind of
Speaker 1: because it's he's the.
Speaker 2: Cliff and I hate this for him. The cliff that
Speaker 2: Iggy dropped off of was very steep, you know.
Speaker 3: Like just physically, but Finals MVP.
Speaker 1: Finals MVP physically though when he when his body declined,
Speaker 1: it declined so fast, you know what I mean, even
Speaker 1: in Miami. Uh, it was just like didn't look right right,
Speaker 1: and it was even struggling with it in the twenty
Speaker 1: nineteen series against Toronto, and you could tell he had
Speaker 1: a bunch of it was like knee inflammation, which I
Speaker 1: think he's still dealing with now.
Speaker 2: To this day. On and off again with it. He
Speaker 2: was like really battling it.
Speaker 1: So it's hard to remember how much of it because
Speaker 1: he was a very good pure scorer, and some would
Speaker 1: say that a key piece to the Warriors going from
Speaker 1: that Mark Jackson era to getting a chip like he
Speaker 1: was that piece that was added that got them that chip.
Speaker 1: Needless to say, no Kyrie, no Kevin Love, but still
Speaker 1: with him, I think that helped a lot.
Speaker 3: Oh without a doubt, I think he definitely helped enable
Speaker 3: them to heights that that I think many didn't believe
Speaker 3: were going to be possible. And also the willingness to
Speaker 3: come off the bench to allow Harrison Barnes to start
Speaker 3: is kind of part of that story too in that
Speaker 3: two thousand fifteen season, and then he winds up back
Speaker 3: in the starting lineup in the finals, wins the Finals
Speaker 3: MVP after they fell down to one in that series
Speaker 3: and wound up winning game four, game five, in game
Speaker 3: six to take it four to two.
Speaker 1: How are people feeling about this series' vibe wise, like,
Speaker 1: whether that's media, whether that's fans that you come in
Speaker 1: contact with compared to other Finals run because I know
Speaker 1: I've seen some ninety five to seven the game like
Speaker 1: pro mode tweets of like Warriors fans, are you panicked?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: Is the sense of emotions different than any other that
Speaker 1: they've faced before?
Speaker 2: And why?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think as far as this series goes, first
Speaker 3: of all, I mean, you got to deal with where
Speaker 3: we are now and it's two to two, and I
Speaker 3: think huge sigh relief from the Warrior fan base that
Speaker 3: they were able to get Game four in Boston and
Speaker 3: bring it back here two to two. So I do
Speaker 3: feel like over the last twenty four to forty eight
Speaker 3: hours there is more of a sense of oh, they
Speaker 3: got this. Now, they got this, whether it's in six
Speaker 3: or in seven, they got this. But I think the
Speaker 3: biggest thing that I've heard doing the post game shows
Speaker 3: every single night when we take calls and we go
Speaker 3: we go for three hours. Wow, that's that's loud. We
Speaker 3: go for three hours every night Mike check and we
Speaker 3: take calls, is I didn't realize the Celtics were this good.
Speaker 3: We get We have had many calls with people like
Speaker 3: I didn't realize the Celtics were this good. I thought
Speaker 3: this was going to be a five game series. And
Speaker 3: I think there is a there is a threat level
Speaker 3: in so the West Coast.
Speaker 1: That is, like we talk about regional biases, John, like
Speaker 1: we talk about New York East Coast bias. That is
Speaker 1: is one of the most insane West Coast like Bay Area,
Speaker 1: like locked into our shit that I've ever heard.
Speaker 3: It's a it's a Warrior bias. I think, yeah, it
Speaker 3: is a Warriors fan elitist bias, there's no doubt.
Speaker 2: And I hear that about Memphis too, because Memphis was
Speaker 2: given on them.
Speaker 3: No, they were worried about Memphis. Memphis was actually the
Speaker 3: one team even more than maybe Phoenix, and I don't
Speaker 3: you know, the East didn't really come up a lot.
Speaker 3: I think that the thought was, well, Memphis is the
Speaker 3: toughest team among the fan base. Memphis was the toughest
Speaker 3: team because you know, Warrior fans hate Chris Paul. So
Speaker 3: they thought, oh, Steph, he owns Chris Paul. If they
Speaker 3: play Phoenix, they're gonna win that series. Maybe it goes
Speaker 3: six or seven, but they're gonna they're gonna win that series. Ultimately,
Speaker 3: something will happen. And yeah, something happened. They didn't even
Speaker 3: play them because they couldn't get get pied Dallas. But no,
Speaker 3: the fan base here was legitimately afraid of Memphis, and
Speaker 3: then when John Morant went down, it was like, oh,
Speaker 3: we got this, and then miss steriously the Grizzlies were.
Speaker 3: I mean, it wasn't a surprise, but they were much
Speaker 3: better defensively without John Moran and actually hung in that
Speaker 3: series to the point where it kind of left you
Speaker 3: thinking maybe if John Moran played that whole series and
Speaker 3: Memphis had figured some things out, they could have still
Speaker 3: won that series or at least maybe forced to Game seven.
Speaker 3: So Memphis had the fear maybe more than any team
Speaker 3: and their head to head matchups. Not to get too
Speaker 3: wonky on you, but they really would would physically kind
Speaker 3: of manhandle the Warriors, and they knocked him out last
Speaker 3: year in the play and so no, there there was
Speaker 3: some worry there. But I think as far as everybody
Speaker 3: else goes, the Warrior fan base is so used to
Speaker 3: a position of advantage. They're so used to it, always
Speaker 3: up to nothing, always up three to one, going for
Speaker 3: the gentleman's sweep, never truly in a position of feeling
Speaker 3: vulnerable in series, to where I think the Celtics stunning
Speaker 3: them in Game one the way that they did really
Speaker 3: put everybody, you know, kind of hiding behind the couch
Speaker 3: for a couple of days until the Warriors answered back,
Speaker 3: and then oh wait, it was almost Oh, they've got this.
Speaker 3: Now they're going to Boston. They've figured it out. And
Speaker 3: the one thing I kept saying in between was, well,
Speaker 3: game three is gonna tell you who's figured out what
Speaker 3: and whether Game two was the outlier weather game one
Speaker 3: maybe was the outlier. And then the Celtics win Game three,
Speaker 3: and from that point on it's really been Oh, I
Speaker 3: didn't realize the Celtics were this good, respect like, maybe
Speaker 3: this is gonna be a seven game series, because even
Speaker 3: after Friday, I'll give you the pulse a Friday night,
Speaker 3: Friday night in Boston, Steph with this Jordanesque performance in
Speaker 3: TD Garden, and you know, fans will get loose a
Speaker 3: little bit and say whatever they're gonna say, and then
Speaker 3: it'll be, oh, all right, all right, thanks Warriors in
Speaker 3: six or Warriors in you know all fans do that.
Speaker 3: It was all Warriors in seven. It was all Warriors.
Speaker 3: It wasn't Warriors in six. It was Warriors at seven.
Speaker 3: So they were feeling good and great that it was
Speaker 3: two two, But it wasn't like, oh, we're just rolling
Speaker 3: the next two. It was like, oh no, we'll win
Speaker 3: one though one maybe what would another one? The Celtics
Speaker 3: have the Warrior fan base respect, I'll put it that way.
Speaker 1: How do you we talked about this what was it
Speaker 1: maybe they maybe Thursday? It was after the loss in
Speaker 1: Game three, and we talked about just like how if
Speaker 1: they win the Chip Warriors, if the Warriors win the Chip,
Speaker 1: how like that may not be the best for the
Speaker 1: franchise in the long term, right, And I thought you
Speaker 1: made some really interesting points about that, and I wanted
Speaker 1: you to share them just in terms of, like we've.
Speaker 2: Got a choose your own adventure. Warriors win, where Warriors lose.
Speaker 2: You know, what happens in each one of these different cases,
Speaker 2: in terms of decision making tree, in terms of how
Speaker 2: they're they're covered the next year, in terms of you know,
Speaker 2: kind of like the state of affairs in the next
Speaker 2: three years.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, look, if if they there's a couple
Speaker 3: of different angles, right, I mean, if the Warriors win it, obviously,
Speaker 3: I mean they want to win it, and the fan
Speaker 3: base wants them to win it and all of that.
Speaker 3: If the Warriors win it, I think it's almost gravy
Speaker 3: the next couple of years. I mean, the belief will
Speaker 3: be kind of like would Lebron say, not five, not six,
Speaker 3: not like like at that point. I mean, if you
Speaker 3: win this year, I think a lot of the conversation
Speaker 3: is going to be about this two timeline thing, and well,
Speaker 3: if Steph wasn't MVP regular season level going back to
Speaker 3: this year, well then maybe he can just kind of
Speaker 3: get through the regular season. Maybe Clay will be a
Speaker 3: little better, and Draymond's still around, and there's all these
Speaker 3: young players. What about Wiseman and Kaminga and Moses Moody
Speaker 3: who was picked fourteenth. Like, if they win it, I
Speaker 3: think it's almost gravy like they they pretty much.
Speaker 1: Don't do really anything in the they run it.
Speaker 3: I think they run it back and they allow the
Speaker 3: young players to maybe be a bigger part of it.
Speaker 3: They still would have the Pepper and some veterans, I
Speaker 3: think with some playoff experience along the way, Paige Jordan
Speaker 3: Poole ride it out with Wiggins play cominga more Wiseman like.
Speaker 3: There's just a freedom I think that comes with winning
Speaker 3: it this year for the next year for them. If
Speaker 3: they don't win it, I think That's where it gets
Speaker 3: a little tricky because then the conversation sort of shifts
Speaker 3: to do you were this close within two games or
Speaker 3: one game, depending upon how it ends of winning the
Speaker 3: NBA Championship and you couldn't get over the hump? And
Speaker 3: Steph put up maybe an Finals MVP performance even in losing.
Speaker 3: Do you owe it to him and Clay and Raymond?
Speaker 3: But really deal it to him to do whatever it
Speaker 3: takes to get over the hump? And does that mean
Speaker 3: you look to trade a Kaminga or a Wiseman or
Speaker 3: something like that. And I don't think they want to
Speaker 3: do that as an organization, But and the veterans did
Speaker 3: go in last offseason and say, hey, we we would
Speaker 3: we need veteran help if we're going to make a
Speaker 3: playoff run, and maybe you should consider making some kind
Speaker 3: of a trade, and the and the front office and
Speaker 3: Joe Lacob I think at the head of that was like, no,
Speaker 3: we're not gonna do that. We're gonna we're gonna see
Speaker 3: how far this group you Steph, Clay, Draymond Wiggins, how
Speaker 3: far that group can take you. But I do think
Speaker 3: it gets trickier if they don't win it. And the
Speaker 3: and the question as far as as the anthem begins
Speaker 3: here behind me, little little test anthem, Uh, the question
Speaker 3: then becomes what do you have to do to get
Speaker 3: over that hump?
Speaker 1: So and then we talked about media coverage too, and
Speaker 1: I think that's really interesting because it feels like some
Speaker 1: of the flags that might have come with Memphis ended up.
Speaker 1: He's having domerant that maybe people would have identified or franchised,
Speaker 1: recuganized and said, like Saint I may is a defensive ability,
Speaker 1: et cetera, a bigger, stronger teams. The Bucks aren't going
Speaker 1: in there, right, You've got Miami may or may not
Speaker 1: go anywhere, and obviously Boston's going anywhere either.
Speaker 2: So how do you think the way that there'll be
Speaker 2: will be covered?
Speaker 1: And changes too with the ninety five to seven of
Speaker 1: the game, the white years of the world like war years, twitter.
Speaker 2: Et cetera.
Speaker 3: What's gravy If they win it, I mean, if they
Speaker 3: win it, literally.
Speaker 2: No criticism the entire year.
Speaker 3: If they win it, there's no criticism. If they win it,
Speaker 3: it's it's top of the mountain. And hey, come at us,
Speaker 3: come at us, bro come at us. Sis Like that
Speaker 3: really is what Hey we're on top of the mountain.
Speaker 3: It's Joey light Ears. You can't stop us. Kaminga is
Speaker 3: the next Giannis. Uh. You know, Wiseman is going to
Speaker 3: be exactly everything they didn't have. He's Robert Williams plus
Speaker 3: Jaron Jackson, like combined into one. And that's what he's
Speaker 3: gonna be. And it's just it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mean, the delusions will in it from where
Speaker 1: they already are.
Speaker 3: It will it will be come at us. Hey, Boston,
Speaker 3: that was cute. You couldn't get it done. Now we're better.
Speaker 1: That's annoying, though, don't you think that's annoying?
Speaker 3: It can be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, are you gonna do that?
Speaker 3: I don't ever do that. Like That's that's why I
Speaker 3: don't ever do that. I I love talking about the games.
Speaker 3: I love talking about the teams. I'm not you know,
Speaker 3: I'm not here to you know, pat myself on the back.
Speaker 3: Although I think I did, yeah, exactly, No, I didn't
Speaker 3: know it was I was gonna say I didn't. I
Speaker 3: didn't know it was this kind of this kind of show.
Speaker 3: Although you do video, you did cuss a couple of times,
Speaker 3: so that's okay, we can do that. Okay, I got you.
Speaker 3: So the video is only for.
Speaker 2: Us, Yep, exactly, It's just I got.
Speaker 3: Okay, Well that's good, all right, Well then I then
Speaker 3: I should I should have just taken the jacket off.
Speaker 3: Then I'm sure.
Speaker 2: Whatever you need to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just get real, Dell and so Sonya curry with it.
Speaker 3: Just get real comfortable. Yeah, real comfortable. But no, yeah,
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't roll like that. I mean you could.
Speaker 3: You could make the case that the Warriors not winning
Speaker 3: it would make for more compelling for a more compelling
Speaker 3: conversation moving forward.
Speaker 2: Do you think Adam Silver wants.
Speaker 3: I think that's interesting. I think Adam Silver likes having
Speaker 3: the Warriors at the top of the mountain. To be honest,
Speaker 3: I think he does. I think he likes everybody. I mean,
Speaker 3: the ratings would say he does, right. I mean, and look,
Speaker 3: the Celtics are part of that too, But I think
Speaker 3: he likes having them back at the top of the
Speaker 3: mountain and everybody's sort of aspiring to be them. But
Speaker 3: in terms of conversation, you could make a case that
Speaker 3: them not winning it leads to juicing your conversation.
Speaker 2: More interesting outcomes too. Where'd you go now?
Speaker 3: I'm here?
Speaker 1: Oh, more interesting outcomes in my opinion too, Do you
Speaker 1: think so?
Speaker 3: I think so. I think it could be. Excuse me,
Speaker 3: I need to take a sip here in.
Speaker 2: This, That's okay.
Speaker 1: We talked also about fan bases, and I said this
Speaker 1: to you when we talked after Game three.
Speaker 2: I said, you know, it's.
Speaker 1: Funny that the Warriors, you know, they faced Cleveland, the
Speaker 1: Cleveland Cavaliers fan base for a million years, and then
Speaker 1: they faced Toronto for one year.
Speaker 2: Toronto was a.
Speaker 1: Nice place to play, fine, passionate fan base, but they're civilized.
Speaker 2: Let's be honest. They're civilized folk. They're Canadians, and they're
Speaker 2: not They're not messing around.
Speaker 1: I think there might have been one little interesting thing
Speaker 1: that happened with the fan during that series, but nothing crazy,
Speaker 1: no like real scuttle butt.
Speaker 2: Outside of the whole Drake thing that I got roasted for.
Speaker 3: There was no.
Speaker 1: There was no yeah, there was no like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: I needed to take my dubs jersey off when I
Speaker 1: left the arena. Like, do you do you think that
Speaker 1: this is the first like real deal fan base that
Speaker 1: the war have faced in the finals, And you think
Speaker 1: that's like a fair fair estimation?
Speaker 3: Well, we're only talking about three. I mean we're talking Yeah,
Speaker 3: we're talking about Boston, Toronto, and Cleveland. And look, the
Speaker 3: games in Cleveland were I thought tremendous atmospheres, especially the
Speaker 3: two years where the Calves had a chance. They didn't
Speaker 3: really have a chance in seventeen or eighteen, but fifteen
Speaker 3: and sixteen they did. So I think I think that
Speaker 3: the Calves crowds were good. Toronto, I was blown away.
Speaker 3: I'd always heard great things about Toronto, but yeah, it
Speaker 3: was more of a joyous crowd. They were really happy
Speaker 3: that their team was in it. Yeah, and I think
Speaker 3: they knew, hey, we're playing the Juggernauts that have been
Speaker 3: in this thing five years in a row like this.
Speaker 2: Is just happy to be like winning games.
Speaker 3: There and yeah they yeah, no, And they had a
Speaker 3: lot of years where they couldn't quite get over the hump.
Speaker 3: So I think just being in the finals and having
Speaker 3: home court advantage and all of the things that went
Speaker 3: through that to get to that point, I thought they
Speaker 3: were just really really really happy and loud and it
Speaker 3: was awesome. I would put Toronto probably ahead of Cleveland
Speaker 3: in terms of the overall atmosphere, but yeah, Boston's on
Speaker 3: another level. I mean, that's a that's a town, that's
Speaker 3: it's it's an edgier fan base. They take it seriously
Speaker 3: all of their sports, whether it's the Red Sox or
Speaker 3: the Patriots or the Celtics. And yeah, it's gonna get
Speaker 3: a little salty maybe in terms of of the language
Speaker 3: or or the interaction if you're if you're wearing a
Speaker 3: warrior's jersey. They're used to winning, Yeah, and they demand winning.
Speaker 3: I mean what I mean, this is their twenty second
Speaker 3: finals and I think they've lost what five I think
Speaker 3: so or four five whatever that. Yeah, this is the
Speaker 3: twenty one and they won seventeen, So seventeen and four.
Speaker 3: I mean that's pretty good, pretty good.
Speaker 1: And they're known for doing things, you know, all kinds
Speaker 1: of outlandish things throughout the course of time. If you
Speaker 1: watch winning time, Uh, Norm Nixon talked about how insane
Speaker 1: the fans were, and even the the home cooking in
Speaker 1: the refs and all that that noise before we let
Speaker 1: you run, raising.
Speaker 3: The basket, raising the basket during warmups.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe rough and tough stuff, pooping in in Bill
Speaker 1: Russell's bed in the hotel room, rats skurring around the breezeway,
Speaker 1: so we're far cry from that. But uh, I want
Speaker 1: to pivot to just something really interesting that has happened,
Speaker 1: which Kenny Atkinson now the new head coach of the
Speaker 1: Charlotte Hornets. As per Shams, this is the bomb. This
Speaker 1: is the sound of the Shams bomb. So one, I
Speaker 1: want two things from you. One, what has Kenny done
Speaker 1: putting his fingerprints on this organization this season? Because the
Speaker 1: number one thing that I think was missing last year
Speaker 1: maybe the year before that was the development side, right,
Speaker 1: and that's kind of what even Steve said was sort
Speaker 1: of missing and what they brought Kenny into do. So
Speaker 1: from what you've covered and what you know, what has
Speaker 1: Kenny done for this this team this year that you
Speaker 1: can kind of says he's leaps.
Speaker 3: For him, I think you hit on it. I think
Speaker 3: I think individual player development was a big part of that.
Speaker 3: And the Warriors because they had so many young players,
Speaker 3: they put a real emphasis on on player development as
Speaker 3: far as how does Jordan Poole make a jump? Maybe
Speaker 3: make two jumps? How does that work? Wiseman. A part
Speaker 3: of it Kaminga did this year as well, is how
Speaker 3: does he go from somebody that that can you know,
Speaker 3: be a player more Anthem, Tony Lindsay, Tony Lindsay, everybody
Speaker 3: Santana favorite here in the Bay going round two, Round
Speaker 3: two for Tony Lindsay. But no, it was it was excellent.
Speaker 3: I'm sure it'll be excellent at six o'clock here Pacific
Speaker 3: too when we when we hear it Korea. But uh,
Speaker 3: it's it was all of that, Like, how does kaminga
Speaker 3: go from somebody that played the G League get you know,
Speaker 3: ignite team and then gets drafted seven overall and become
Speaker 3: somebody that I think by year two playable in the
Speaker 3: playoffs if need be, but by year two can be
Speaker 3: somebody that's a factor to maybe take somebody's spot moving forward.
Speaker 3: So also individual game preparation. The Warriors kind of went
Speaker 3: out of their way at least at the beginning of
Speaker 3: the year and said we want to chase wins, none
Speaker 3: of this, like they want to win as much as
Speaker 3: possible to put themselves in position to where.
Speaker 2: They we've regretted that.
Speaker 3: It was an awful look. It was an awful look,
Speaker 3: and I think he knew it. And I think Mike
Speaker 3: Brown defensively, some jankie defenses in some like they got
Speaker 3: far more game plan specific this year on a game
Speaker 3: to game basis in the regular season, especially early, and
Speaker 3: I think Kenny Atkinson was a big part of that,
Speaker 3: taking a look at at scouting other teams and hey,
Speaker 3: what can we do not just to run our stuff
Speaker 3: on offense and just run our regular defense, but how
Speaker 3: can we make sure we do everything possible to win
Speaker 3: these games on these nights. I think it's why they
Speaker 3: got up to the eighteen and two, forty one and thirteen.
Speaker 3: Then they had some injuries and everything kind of went
Speaker 3: awry a little bit. They couldn't get everybody on the
Speaker 3: same page after Clay came back until the playoffs. But
Speaker 3: now in the playoffs they've been able to do enough
Speaker 3: to put themselves to where now they're they're two games
Speaker 3: away from a title.
Speaker 2: How does Kenny do it?
Speaker 3: He's just exceptionally maniacally organized from what I understand of him,
Speaker 3: and I think, you know, he'll be a great hire
Speaker 3: for Charlotte. That I think is, you know, a couple
Speaker 3: of levels behind maybe where the where the Warriors are at.
Speaker 3: But I think you know, you look at at LaMelo
Speaker 3: Ball and some of the talent that they have. They're
Speaker 3: some good young talent and he developed Brooklyn to a
Speaker 3: point where they were they were a team that was
Speaker 3: ready for a couple of stars to come in and
Speaker 3: maybe help them along the way, not completely take it
Speaker 3: over and kick him to the curb while they were
Speaker 3: at it, or whether they were preparing for that to
Speaker 3: that point where they were going to get there. But no,
Speaker 3: he's one of the most I think prepared, organized, maybe
Speaker 3: even to the point of just maniacal dudes in the league.
Speaker 3: And so I think Charlotte found themselves a good one
Speaker 3: on that front as far as trying to get out
Speaker 3: of the playing tournament and get into maybe the top
Speaker 3: six and then who knows from there.
Speaker 1: One of the number one things that I read about
Speaker 1: Kenny and when I talked to d Lo when he
Speaker 1: was playing on the nets that year, is just the
Speaker 1: building of culture. And like the word culture was written
Speaker 1: I don't know man like thirty forty fifty times in
Speaker 1: one article about Kenny just from your time around the team,
Speaker 1: like how does he do how does he build culture?
Speaker 1: And how do you think he can do that?
Speaker 2: In Charlotte.
Speaker 3: I think accountability is a big part of it. I
Speaker 3: think with the Warriors, though, he and this will be
Speaker 3: interesting to see how far he takes it from his
Speaker 3: Warriors time, you know, going back to now coach Charlotte
Speaker 3: as a head coach. But I think the Warriors culture
Speaker 3: is so ingrained that I think he probably had to
Speaker 3: fit more with what the Warriors do. But I think,
Speaker 3: you know, I'll use Mike Brown as an example. Mike
Speaker 3: Brown coming in after being a dude that was, you know,
Speaker 3: kind of viewed as overly stressed and maybe maybe a
Speaker 3: little obsessive, compulsive and things like that. The Warriors taught
Speaker 3: him he needed to chill a little bit. And and
Speaker 3: he spent a number of years here and we'll see
Speaker 3: and he's got a little different task as he goes
Speaker 3: ninety miles down the road to Sacramento. But I think
Speaker 3: it's more what maybe Kenny learned from his time here,
Speaker 3: and maybe that is that you want to have a
Speaker 3: great culture, but you can't necessarily be obsessed with the
Speaker 3: with the culture and having every particular part of it
Speaker 3: fit in the in the same box, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3: So just a little bit more laid back I think
Speaker 3: is probably the way.
Speaker 2: To go time in the Bay.
Speaker 1: Bruh, Yeah, No, I I think that's an interesting point
Speaker 1: because that was one of the main things that I
Speaker 1: remember hearing there's.
Speaker 3: A fourth time doing Tony Lindsay wasn't happy with how
Speaker 3: he sounded.
Speaker 1: Talk about maniacal and attention to detail, Tony Lindsay with
Speaker 1: a bunch of national anthems here. I think the number
Speaker 1: one thing that I've heard in my time when I've
Speaker 1: kind of asked, well, like, why did Kevin Durant want
Speaker 1: Kenny gone? So that was essentially what happened is you know,
Speaker 1: you got to go. Him and Kyrie were like task
Speaker 1: and one of the things that I heard was that
Speaker 1: he had a very strict way of training protocol getting
Speaker 1: guys ready, and that worked for young guys and for
Speaker 1: stars who have been doing things a certain way. They've
Speaker 1: got a certain protocol that they have also designed that
Speaker 1: works for them. And so when those two things clashed,
Speaker 1: you know, then you've got issues. Do you think that
Speaker 1: that's something that we're going to see Kenny evolve from
Speaker 1: even with the young team.
Speaker 3: I think he's probably gonna have to, And that's a
Speaker 3: good reason. I think that's a big takeaway is you
Speaker 3: got to change a little bit here and there. I
Speaker 3: think with you gotta find that balance and look he's
Speaker 3: got LaMelo ball. That's it needs to work with LaMelo
Speaker 3: Ball there, because he's that good. At least it appears
Speaker 3: he's that good a couple of years into his career
Speaker 3: to where you want him to be the face of
Speaker 3: the Hornets, not for just the next two or three years,
Speaker 3: but you want him to be the face of the
Speaker 3: franchise for the next ten plus years. And so you know,
Speaker 3: Kenny's job is to build everything around him, but it's
Speaker 3: also his job to make sure that everything stays harmonious.
Speaker 3: So I think, yeah, being a little bit more laid
Speaker 3: back and understanding that not everything has to fit in
Speaker 3: the too each particular box is probably a big part
Speaker 3: of what he would take away from from a potential
Speaker 3: championship year with the Warriors, and getting.
Speaker 1: Those boys to play some defense because they are atrocious
Speaker 1: at that right, no doubt. Their paint defense was I
Speaker 1: want to say, thirtieth in the league, So that'll be
Speaker 1: an interesting thing. Final thoughts before we let you Oh, also,
Speaker 1: really quickly, someone floated out the idea that we should
Speaker 1: all collectively start to go fund me for four and
Speaker 1: a half million dollars to put thoughts on the hardwood
Speaker 1: for Jordan Pool to play better?
Speaker 2: Did you see that news story? Thoughts on that new thoughts.
Speaker 3: On that I didn't. I hadn't seen that. I had
Speaker 3: not seen that. We run that back for me again,
Speaker 3: what is going on here?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: So there's the campaign out there on Twitter or some
Speaker 1: news outlet that was like, how much is too much
Speaker 1: to pay for Jordan Poole to be motivated to play
Speaker 1: better and for court side seats, to get little batties,
Speaker 1: batties on the on the court side all together it
Speaker 1: would cost if they had that entire area, you can
Speaker 1: buy four and a half million dollars for the next
Speaker 1: two games for Chase Center. I'm not sure why people
Speaker 1: think that that's what's gonna make Jordan Poole play better.
Speaker 3: We played better in game four. And look, even even
Speaker 3: I had almost forgotten earlier we were talking about No,
Speaker 3: he played pretty well in game four. It's does it translate?
Speaker 3: Was it one game or does it translate to a
Speaker 3: couple of more games? Here? And this is I'm not
Speaker 3: I'm not chipping in on that one, Trista, Sorry, I'm not.
Speaker 3: I'm out. That one's against my principles.
Speaker 2: I saw it and I was like, even for you.
Speaker 1: This is maybe the most bonkers, the most bonker story
Speaker 1: I've I've ever heard Warriors in what what do you
Speaker 1: think is gonna happen? Is it?
Speaker 2: Warriors? And you have to be honest?
Speaker 3: Now Warriors and seven Warriors. I think I think the
Speaker 3: Warriors are winning tonight in Game five. I think Boston's
Speaker 3: gonna hold serve and then I think the Warriors eke
Speaker 3: out a Game seven win back here on Father's Day
Speaker 3: Sunday and win the championship. Close game down the stretch.
Speaker 3: I think they win it five to seven points at
Speaker 3: the end, sort of a maybe a similar finish to
Speaker 3: the finish in Game four with a close game and
Speaker 3: then Boston unable to Boston missing a couple of shots
Speaker 3: and the Warriors hitting a couple of big ones to
Speaker 3: put them over the top.
Speaker 1: Good stuff, Good stuff, John Dickinson, my guy. We appreciate
Speaker 1: you for those who are joining us live. That is
Speaker 1: all the time that we have for the Heat Check.
Speaker 1: Will be back Wednesday with a new episode previewing game.
Speaker 2: No is It Safe?
Speaker 1: Sae unodos trace quatro sinco sacee seven.
Speaker 3: You're already ready for Game seven?
Speaker 1: Uh and follow us on Heat Check as we go
Speaker 1: down the stretch, are you going to Summer League by
Speaker 1: the way.
Speaker 3: To be determined at this point.
Speaker 2: All right, well you I see, I am, I'm gonna be.
Speaker 3: There the oh, well, then I'm there, then I'm there,
Speaker 3: then then I'm there. I'm there in the entire I
Speaker 3: just made my decision.
Speaker 1: Then do not forget to download subscribe. Also, John, tell
Speaker 1: them where they can find you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, eight at JD John Dickinson on on Twitter and
Speaker 3: same thing on Instagram, and you know the Odyssey app
Speaker 3: for all the the pre and post game shows as
Speaker 3: well ninety five to seven the game on Twitter as
Speaker 3: well a lot of our videos and audio files and
Speaker 3: links to everything or there. So yeah, that's that's it.
Speaker 1: One of the best dudes in the fucking business. One
Speaker 1: of the best dudes in the business.
Speaker 2: Follow us. We will see you soon, John.
Speaker 1: I wish I was not here, but you know what,
Speaker 1: I got other shows and other bills and people to pay.
Speaker 3: So Boston's not that far from where you're at. I
Speaker 3: mean I am, I am going to be in Boston tomorrow.
Speaker 2: So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. Love you, John,
Speaker 2: Thank you guys. We'll see you guys next time.