Speaker 1: Welcome to this League uncut.
Speaker 2: Rule of twenty four hour NBA News.
Speaker 1: This you Chris Haynes. It's go time, Mark Stein.
Speaker 2: It's so time.
Speaker 1: Cut.
Speaker 2: This League Uncut is underway in on fire. This should
Speaker 2: be a good one. Yes, indeed, another good one on
Speaker 2: the way, a fresh episode of this League Uncut. Mark
Speaker 2: Stein here with Chris Haynes. Conference finals historic conference finals historic,
Speaker 2: not in a great way though, with the potential of
Speaker 2: two sweeps. Has never happened in the sixteen team playoff era.
Speaker 2: This is actually season number forty of the sixteen team
Speaker 2: playoff format that the NBA introduced in nineteen eighty three
Speaker 2: eighty four. Never at this stage have we had a
Speaker 2: potential for sweeps in both the West and the East finals.
Speaker 2: And we will get to that, all with Chris Haynes,
Speaker 2: who was attending and covering the Western Conference finals. But
Speaker 2: I think we should start. We're recording this not on
Speaker 2: Sunday night like we usually do. We're recording it on
Speaker 2: a Monday afternoon because of various reporting duties. And this morning,
Speaker 2: Monday morning, we were greeted by a rather newsy video
Speaker 2: from Carmelo Anthony announcing his retirement. Not totally unexpected, because,
Speaker 2: of course, Carmelo Anthony did not play this season. He
Speaker 2: was not able to find the roster spot somewhere that
Speaker 2: he badly wanted. But when a well crafted player announcement
Speaker 2: comes out direct from the legend in question, and it's
Speaker 2: Carmelo Anthony himself telling us that he is indeed walking
Speaker 2: away from the game, it still strikes a chord. It
Speaker 2: still makes people wistful and naturally gets everybody thinking about
Speaker 2: their favorite Mellow moments. Mister Haynes, did you cross paths
Speaker 2: with Mellow at all this season? Did you run into
Speaker 2: him anywhere? I haven't seen him honestly in ages.
Speaker 1: No, I haven't.
Speaker 3: The last time I spoke to Carmelo he came on
Speaker 3: my pod last year, I want to say a little
Speaker 3: bit over a year ago, when I was with Yahoo.
Speaker 1: At the time.
Speaker 2: You had a pod before this, Yeah.
Speaker 1: I did. I did. That was the last time I
Speaker 1: spoke to him, I believe. So. I had to look
Speaker 1: at my text here this last time we text.
Speaker 3: But the last time I saw him in person, I
Speaker 3: want to see what had to been when he was
Speaker 3: playing with Portland.
Speaker 1: No, no, playing with the Lakers. I'm tripping playing with
Speaker 1: the Lakers.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that was the last time we I saw him
Speaker 3: in person.
Speaker 1: So always always a stand up dude. Man. The dude
Speaker 1: still could play, He still could hoop.
Speaker 3: You know, it's always unfortunate when guys retired, not because
Speaker 3: their skill set isn't good enough to be on a roster,
Speaker 3: but just because.
Speaker 1: Teams are going in a different direction.
Speaker 3: Veterans aren't valued as much on teams like they used
Speaker 3: to be. I believe, you know, Carmelo would have played
Speaker 3: any role, any role asked. I think we're just in
Speaker 3: the era again where veterans aren't valued like they used
Speaker 3: to because they if they were a team like the
Speaker 3: Houston Rockets, would have picked up a key veteran that
Speaker 3: could kind of keep things in line, teach the youngsters
Speaker 3: how to be NBA professionals, like you know, something like
Speaker 3: what you Jonnas Hazen was doing in Miami, what DeAndre
Speaker 3: Jordan is doing in Denver. So there's still some teams
Speaker 3: who who value that role, but not like we used to.
Speaker 2: Now, that is one of the most important jobs in
Speaker 2: the NBA, and it's really hard for teams to find
Speaker 2: that guy. You're Eudonis Haslim, You're andre Iguodala, they're critical
Speaker 2: and every team wants one. And look, Carmelo, his Rockets
Speaker 2: career lasted all of ten games. I remember there was
Speaker 2: a lot of fear at the time that he might
Speaker 2: not make his way back into the league when the
Speaker 2: Rockets abruptly let him go. He ended up getting two
Speaker 2: seasons with the Blazers and then last season with the Lakers.
Speaker 2: And you know, I know he played nineteen seasons in
Speaker 2: the NBA. From everything I was told, he really wanted
Speaker 2: to land somewhere this season because it meant a lot
Speaker 2: to him to have that chance to play a twentieth season.
Speaker 2: A nice round number, but let's be honest, this man's resume,
Speaker 2: it really doesn't need embellishment. He's a top seventy five
Speaker 2: or he's the number nine all time score in league
Speaker 2: history with more than twenty eight thousand points. Foba mellow
Speaker 2: was its own monster in itself. You know, I will
Speaker 2: never forget being at the London Olympics and what was it,
Speaker 2: thirty seven points and fourteen minutes for Carmelo. He was
Speaker 2: an absolute monster on the international stage. And you know, honestly,
Speaker 2: from that draft class, you know, the famed two thousand
Speaker 2: and three draft class, my favorite guy to cover. I
Speaker 2: always just found him to be the most transparent and
Speaker 2: you know, just loved talking to him. Didn't see him tons. Frankly,
Speaker 2: for me, I covered him much more in international settings
Speaker 2: than I did in NBA settings, because I guess I
Speaker 2: just wasn't in this, you know what, you know so
Speaker 2: long with the Knicks and you know, Denver we've talked about,
Speaker 2: you know I have. I didn't spend tons of time
Speaker 2: in either of those places. I do remember having a
Speaker 2: great sit down with Mellow when he first joined the Thunder.
Speaker 2: He was in Oklahoma City for a year and that
Speaker 2: was a little bit closer to my neighborhood, so I
Speaker 2: was able to just see Mellow more that season. But
Speaker 2: on the Team USA stage, I mean, you know, Foeba
Speaker 2: Melo is a legend, and do not worry. He will
Speaker 2: be a first ballot automatic Hall of Famer when he's
Speaker 2: eligible four years from now.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's not even up for debate. That's not even
Speaker 1: up for debate. Yet.
Speaker 3: He didn't he didn't get that elusive championship that superstars crave.
Speaker 3: Players in general, but superstars, it means so much more
Speaker 3: to their legacy to obtain that. But Carmelo man like
Speaker 3: when you look at his play, he's one of the last,
Speaker 3: like great back to the basket posts players that played
Speaker 3: the small forward position. You know, he's really a last
Speaker 3: of the throwbacks, the back to the basket, the pivots
Speaker 3: like he had the moves he had to moves, the
Speaker 3: reverse pivots like. He can get down and busy in
Speaker 3: that paint man and overpower you. And you know, he
Speaker 3: was fun to watch. And then he could step out
Speaker 3: and face you up, hit you with the jab step
Speaker 3: killer jab step, hit you with the spin move off
Speaker 3: of the jab step, pump, fake dip under for the
Speaker 3: lay in, and people forget Carmelo used to be so
Speaker 3: athletic in his earlier years. You know, go back and
Speaker 3: watch some of his highlights. He had a total package, definitely,
Speaker 3: and so a lack of a championship should not diminish
Speaker 3: what he's accomplished.
Speaker 1: And you know there's warts with you have warts with
Speaker 1: in the.
Speaker 3: Game of any player, any player of any mattitude, even
Speaker 3: star players. And I know, for the latter part of
Speaker 3: his career, his warts were talked about more so than
Speaker 3: what he could actually bring to a table overall, bring
Speaker 3: to a team overall.
Speaker 1: Stein, he's a good dude.
Speaker 3: Man, Melo is a good dude, Like he's really like
Speaker 3: class act, straight up, no nonsense. He's a guy that
Speaker 3: if he didn't like something you wrote or something you said,
Speaker 3: he'll hit you up. He'll hit you up and let
Speaker 3: you know how he feels about that. I've had that
Speaker 3: experience with him a few times and you respect it,
Speaker 3: and you respect it because he's never came He's never
Speaker 3: came out of pocket to me and Stein, that means
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 1: He's never he's never been disrespectful, never came at a.
Speaker 3: Place of disrespect. It was just straight up and he's
Speaker 3: just a cool brother.
Speaker 1: Man. I got I got numb of love for Carmelo. Man.
Speaker 3: You know you look at the last who Stein? Can
Speaker 3: you name the members of the Banana boat crew? Give
Speaker 3: me all the members Stein.
Speaker 2: Isn't it? Lebron d Wade, Chris Paul and Mellow? Am
Speaker 2: I leaving somebody out? Do we throw Gabby Union in there?
Speaker 3: She's probably she's probably a captain of the of that
Speaker 3: of that ship, that Banata ship. So Carmelo's gone. Now
Speaker 3: who's next? Well, Dwayne, Wayne was first Carmelo. Now who's next?
Speaker 3: We have Chris Paul and Lebron James left, and I
Speaker 3: want to make sure I get my facts straight because
Speaker 3: so I would allow you to talk.
Speaker 1: But I believe those four members they are considered the
Speaker 1: four members of the Banana boat crew, but I think
Speaker 1: only three were on that boat.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I honestly don't remember exactly who who was who
Speaker 2: was on the Banana boat?
Speaker 1: Did you wish she were on that Banana boat?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 1: Okay, just asking, all.
Speaker 2: Right, love, I love the water, but I'm I.
Speaker 3: See, I see the picture, the picture, So quiz I
Speaker 3: was accurate. One of those guys, those four you named,
Speaker 3: one of them was not on the Banana boat. You
Speaker 3: got one, guess that's all I'm giving. Which player was
Speaker 3: not officially on that.
Speaker 2: Boat, wasn't it Lebron?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 3: No, No, Carmelo was now on that boat. It was Gabrielle
Speaker 3: Union in the front, Dwayne Wade behind her. Of course
Speaker 3: Dwayne Wade had to be behind Gabrielle. It would it
Speaker 3: would not be appropriate if anybody else was. Do you
Speaker 3: have Chris Paul behind Dwayne Wade? Then it was Lebron.
Speaker 2: See my memory sucks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go, iconic Visil and I gave you one.
Speaker 2: Guess it's okay, So it's crazy. Carmelo wasn't in the picture,
Speaker 2: but he's synonymous with that group for sure.
Speaker 1: That's his group. He's part of Banana Group, Banana Boat
Speaker 1: Crew for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Like I said, the romantic being the basketball romantic
Speaker 2: that I am. I was rooting for him. I was
Speaker 2: hoping somebody would sign him this season just so he
Speaker 2: could say that. You know, he did get that twentieth
Speaker 2: season in. But I'm with you, like I you know,
Speaker 2: I always found him to be, for me, the easiest
Speaker 2: to connect with and cover out of all those guys,
Speaker 2: you know, with mister Wade. You know, I live in Dallas,
Speaker 2: so obviously they're you know, I think I I think
Speaker 2: I inherited some of that that Dirk Wade Dallas Miami tension.
Speaker 2: I didn't see Mellow as often as I would have liked,
Speaker 2: but every time I caught up with him. A great
Speaker 2: talker and a willing talker, which is what we want
Speaker 2: most in our jobs. And incredible, incredible career, A beloved,
Speaker 2: a beloved nick I would love though, I would really
Speaker 2: love to hear his thoughts about this Denver team, because
Speaker 2: you know, before you know, the Nuggets did make the
Speaker 2: conference finals once in Mellow's time and had a really
Speaker 2: really good team, but that's as far as they could go.
Speaker 2: Would love to hear kind of what he thinks of
Speaker 2: this Denver run, because that series, you're that series you're covering, man,
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, I wrote it. I wrote it
Speaker 2: in my Monday musings. I'm not waiting for the fourth win.
Speaker 2: And even in either series, the finals matchup is here,
Speaker 2: it's heat Nuggets, and I give the Celtics zero zero,
Speaker 2: you know, zero chance of being that first team in
Speaker 2: NBA history to come back from O three down. The Lakers, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's give them some sort of mathematical chance, but I
Speaker 2: just I don't see it. I think we can pretty
Speaker 2: I think we can pretty much skip ahead to the finals.
Speaker 3: You're you're given, So why you give the Celtic zero
Speaker 3: and you give the Lakers a percentage?
Speaker 2: I give the Lakers just the slightest bit of math
Speaker 2: because you know, they didn't lose two at home and
Speaker 2: then go to Miami in utter desperation and look like
Speaker 2: a team that was completely broken and frankly looked like
Speaker 2: it quit. I mean Boston's performance in Game three in
Speaker 2: Miami was just utterly unacceptable. I mean, they looked like
Speaker 2: a team ready to be done. I'm not saying, you know,
Speaker 2: like I said, I'm getting I'm I'm not really giving
Speaker 2: the Lakers much of a chance, you know, But if
Speaker 2: you can feel better about either team down oh three,
Speaker 2: I would feel better about the Lakers situation than Boston's.
Speaker 2: Boston the Celtic. I mean we should probably start there
Speaker 2: because that was the most recently. The Celtics are a mess.
Speaker 2: I just think they are going to hugely regret. They will,
Speaker 2: they will maybe never get over what they've squandered this season.
Speaker 2: In last season, they had a team and a draw
Speaker 2: and a setup and a pathway to win at least
Speaker 2: one of these titles. And going forward, because of the
Speaker 2: new collective bargaining agreement and all the restrictions teams are
Speaker 2: gonna face when they get into second apron territory. You
Speaker 2: go seventeen point five million past the luxury line, and
Speaker 2: you know, you can't put contracts together in trades, you
Speaker 2: can't add cash to trades, you can't go into the
Speaker 2: buyout market. There are restrictions on trading your first round picks.
Speaker 2: And remember this summer Jalen Brown is basically eligible for
Speaker 2: a three hundred million max over five years. Then next summer,
Speaker 2: Tatum is eligible for his own three hundred million dollar deal.
Speaker 2: If you keep those guys, how on earth are you
Speaker 2: gonna be able to keep putting a deep team around them?
Speaker 2: And that's this Celtics team has depth and versatility and
Speaker 2: a bunch of great complimentary pieces with Tatum and Brown,
Speaker 2: and they didn't get it done. It's it's going to
Speaker 2: be tougher before we even get into the coach discussion.
Speaker 2: So I just think, you know, there are going to
Speaker 2: be some huge, huge, huge regrets and many sleepless nights
Speaker 2: for the Celtics when this thing is over.
Speaker 3: The coach acknowledged, or the way it came off, with
Speaker 3: the way he responded, he acknowledged that he lost the team.
Speaker 1: I don't know that he admitted to that exactly.
Speaker 3: I agree, you know, yeah, because I see it the
Speaker 3: way things are, you know, how it was being interpreted.
Speaker 2: Our pal, you know, our guy Gary Washburn of the
Speaker 2: Boston Globe, he asked the question, and he asked about
Speaker 2: losing the team, but then went on with a bunch
Speaker 2: of other parts of his question and the way Missoula responded,
Speaker 2: I don't think he was directly saying, yes, I've lost
Speaker 2: the team, but of course that was the way it
Speaker 2: was taken.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly, So I don't think he's admitting to that.
Speaker 3: But I can't point to details as of right now
Speaker 3: because I haven't thoroughly investigated. But it sounds like there's
Speaker 3: a lot going on. Gary Washburn, who's been with that
Speaker 3: Celtics team for years, he said there is. I believe
Speaker 3: betwe there are serious issues internally over there. Once the
Speaker 3: season ends, this catastrophic we start to learn a little
Speaker 3: bit more. You know, some of those stories start to
Speaker 3: leak out, and I wouldn't be surprised they leak out
Speaker 3: the night they're eliminated. That's how it seems to happen.
Speaker 3: Like soon as the buzzer sounds boom, here you go.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, everyone points to Missoula and he's he's thirty four,
Speaker 2: he had never even been a front of the bench assistant.
Speaker 2: Of course, he's getting out coached by Eric Spolster. He
Speaker 2: was not going to win a May coaching matchup against
Speaker 2: Eric Spolster. I'm sorry. So we can pin all the
Speaker 2: blame we want on him, and look I after they
Speaker 2: beat Philly, I didn't think there was a scenario where
Speaker 2: Missoula's job could be in jeopardy, because that's that was
Speaker 2: another dire situation. You're down three to two Game six
Speaker 2: in Philly, Boston finds a way to win. Jason Tatum
Speaker 2: rings up fifty one points in the greatest Game seven
Speaker 2: ever Celtics survived. I thought, okay, you know that that
Speaker 2: has to take some measure of heat off Missoula. But
Speaker 2: this series so bad. The Celtics are just lacking in
Speaker 2: so many areas. It's it's it's frankly been embarrassing. There's
Speaker 2: no way to dial the volume down on those questions now.
Speaker 2: I mean, his job is in the climate that we're in.
Speaker 2: For NBA coaches, you have to think that that's going
Speaker 2: to continue to be a major question mark. And look,
Speaker 2: even before this series, I was hearing that Boston had
Speaker 2: interest in hiring both Frank Vogel and Steven Silas as
Speaker 2: assistance for Missoula next season. Because that's the thing. The
Speaker 2: Celtics didn't just lose email Udoka, they lost Will Hardy
Speaker 2: and then in March Damon Stodhomer goes to Georgia Tech
Speaker 2: so all the wisdom and veteran veteran coach, noess on
Speaker 2: that bench from last season from a finals team, It's
Speaker 2: all gone and Missoula is going through it now. But
Speaker 2: I mean, look, you know to me that the two
Speaker 2: main guys, Tatum and Brown have to take a lot
Speaker 2: more responsibility. I mean, you know again on my scorecard,
Speaker 2: they've been more disappointing in this series than the coach.
Speaker 2: Like you said, Gary Washburn is alluding to some tensions
Speaker 2: that are maybe more palpable when you're covering the series
Speaker 2: every day and you see it. But the Celtics are
Speaker 2: a mess and the players can't duck responsibility here.
Speaker 3: They cannot, but oftentimes they get a pass and it's
Speaker 3: the head coach. And I had somebody texting me yesterday
Speaker 3: they were asking, is is Missoula fired after this?
Speaker 1: I'm like, how can he be fired?
Speaker 3: They just made them the the permanent head coach, gave
Speaker 3: him a multi multi year deal, Like how can that happen?
Speaker 1: Like, no, they can't.
Speaker 3: But I's I agree with you, but let's let's flip
Speaker 3: this a little bit to the premise. Like I said,
Speaker 3: Like I started off with the premise of oftentimes the coach,
Speaker 3: your players get the pass. And this team went to
Speaker 3: the NBA Finals a year ago under Email Doka. The
Speaker 3: Celtics made the decision to let go Email Doka for
Speaker 3: what do you call it for improblem?
Speaker 2: They said, a relationship that violated unspecified team rules. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that was there. Okay, that's what they said publicly.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so they brought in Joe Missoula again, they brought
Speaker 3: in Joe Mosula. Let's let's remember they brought in Missoula
Speaker 3: from the back of the bench to become the head coach.
Speaker 3: And so for fans that don't understand that, you know,
Speaker 3: you have your top assistance, Your top assistants sit in
Speaker 3: the front of the bench, sitting next to the head coach,
Speaker 3: and then you have the back the bitch guys. Most
Speaker 3: of the times, the back of the bitch coaches are
Speaker 3: player development coaches. They don't really contribute to strategy a lot.
Speaker 3: It's mainly player development where they get to learn and
Speaker 3: with the chances of with the hopes of eventually moving
Speaker 3: up to the front seats and eventually becoming the head coach.
Speaker 3: So this was Brad Stevenson's pick to leap fraud everyone
Speaker 3: else to get that head coaching job and Elite Frogs
Speaker 3: somebody in particular Damon Stottamar who eventually left during the
Speaker 3: regular season to take the head coaching job at Georgia Tech.
Speaker 3: There were a lot of people in the organization who
Speaker 3: felt that Stotomy were not just more deserving, but was
Speaker 3: ready and prepared to take on a team of that manitude,
Speaker 3: a team with those personalities in that locker room. So
Speaker 3: with all that being said, Stean Missoula gets blamed as well,
Speaker 3: because at the end of the day, all you can do, yes, Tatum,
Speaker 3: yes Brown.
Speaker 1: They they underperformed.
Speaker 3: They're underperforming, no doubt about that, But they are expectations.
Speaker 3: The coach is in charge of making sure those players
Speaker 3: are being put in the right situation and players that
Speaker 3: have the right environment, that the players have the right
Speaker 3: mindset going into the going into the whatever game that is.
Speaker 3: And he's a rookie coach, but we expect this, this
Speaker 3: is what we expect. Like when do we expect a
Speaker 3: rookie coach that's coming from the back of the bench
Speaker 3: to come in and step in and do this. And
Speaker 3: so we are seeing rookie mistakes. We are seeing that,
Speaker 3: and I think you still have to point some blame
Speaker 3: towards him. Should he be fired? No, because the Boston
Speaker 3: Celtics made the coach just this year, so they got
Speaker 3: to live with that. But I don't think you can
Speaker 3: dismiss some of the lack of adjustments that coach Massoulas
Speaker 3: made in the series.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and look, it's gonna be and it's going to
Speaker 2: be fascinating to see how the Celtics deal with all
Speaker 2: of this after a playoff flame out like this? Would
Speaker 2: it be it? First of all, I don't think they
Speaker 2: can get both Vogel and Silas on the bench to
Speaker 2: this point, based on everything I've heard. You know, Frank
Speaker 2: Vogel has been focused on his next head coaching opportunity,
Speaker 2: and if that doesn't materialize, and if he reaches the
Speaker 2: point of considering assistant jobs, my sense is that Dallas
Speaker 2: is the favorite to get him because Frank Vogel and
Speaker 2: Jason kidd have such a close relationship from the two
Speaker 2: years that Jason Kidds spent as Vogel's assistant on the
Speaker 2: Laker bench, and obviously they want a championship in the bubble.
Speaker 2: So I don't even know that the Celtics can get
Speaker 2: both Frank Vogel and Silas. But again, this is such
Speaker 2: a spectacular unraveling. I don't know that he even bringing
Speaker 2: two recent head coaches onto next season's bench can kind
Speaker 2: of fix things or make things better. We're just gonna
Speaker 2: We're gonna have to see just how how quickly the
Speaker 2: Celtics can get passed whatever's going on in there. And
Speaker 2: like you said, I think we're just gonna hear more
Speaker 2: and more about it. And again, roster wise, Tatum and
Speaker 2: Brown have been together for six years. At various points
Speaker 2: in those six years there have been calls break these
Speaker 2: guys up, trade Jalen Brown, and it's like, no, you
Speaker 2: don't break up two elite two way wings in their
Speaker 2: mid twenties. This is the league where the two way
Speaker 2: wing has never been more important, and Boston has two
Speaker 2: of these guys who are tremendous and should be just
Speaker 2: a great tandem to use as a team building platform.
Speaker 2: But now, after all these near misses, all these playoff
Speaker 2: disappointments as a franchise, it's five conference finals in seven seasons,
Speaker 2: four conference finals and the six seasons that those two
Speaker 2: have been together, but they will have had no championships
Speaker 2: in that time and now it's gonna cost close to
Speaker 2: six hundred million to retain the both of them. So,
Speaker 2: I mean, Boston has a slew of difficult decisions. And again,
Speaker 2: you know, I feel like I've brought this up a
Speaker 2: bazillion times in these playoffs. But like the list, you know,
Speaker 2: I think the Knicks and the Kings can come away
Speaker 2: from their playoff exits feeling great about their futures and
Speaker 2: proud of their seasons. But pretty much everyone else who
Speaker 2: has lost in the playoffs, it's huge pain, huge misery,
Speaker 2: huge suffering, huge questions about the future. And the Celtics
Speaker 2: really zoom right to the top of that list with
Speaker 2: the Bucks and the Suns and you know, the Blazers
Speaker 2: of the Maps who didn't even make the playoffs. It's like, man,
Speaker 2: there are so many teams out there that have really,
Speaker 2: really difficult decisions this summer. And yeah, I cannot wait
Speaker 2: to see what the Celtics do. You know what, I've
Speaker 2: gone on and on and on about all the Celtics issues,
Speaker 2: but we probably should throw in a line here that
Speaker 2: the Miami heat man absolute playoff marvels. They were down
Speaker 2: more than twenty points in the playing game to Atlanta,
Speaker 2: their first playing game, they were down in the final
Speaker 2: four minutes at home against Chicago, with Chris Haynes viewing
Speaker 2: his all white suit on the sideline. First game, second
Speaker 2: game of the Heats postseason. Rather, Miami comes back, wins
Speaker 2: this one, and now they are on the brink of
Speaker 2: sweeping Boston into offseason oblivion and becoming the first team
Speaker 2: really in the analytics era to get to the finals
Speaker 2: with a negative nightly point margin from the regular season.
Speaker 2: During the regular season, the Heat where a minus point
Speaker 2: five in nightly point differential, and when you really study
Speaker 2: nightly point differential over the last quarter century, it's typically
Speaker 2: a really strong predictor of playoff success. That's one of
Speaker 2: the lessons that I grudgingly have to hat tip that
Speaker 2: I learned from Professor Hollinger in all our years together
Speaker 2: at ESPN and I would do what we called the
Speaker 2: human power rankings every Monday, and then Hollinger had the
Speaker 2: you know, his automated system for power rankings that that
Speaker 2: would also that would run every day, and point differential
Speaker 2: was a huge part of John's system. And you know,
Speaker 2: and that's because when you really study point differential over
Speaker 2: the years, you know, teams with a robust regular season
Speaker 2: point differential tend to do well, but the Heat continue
Speaker 2: to defy all reason with this team that's dealing with injuries,
Speaker 2: the lowest scoring team in the regular season, this negative
Speaker 2: nightly point differential, No Tyler Hero, no Oladipo, relying heavily
Speaker 2: on Duncan Robinson and Max Struce. Caleb Martin and my
Speaker 2: fellow Big West Conference alumnus gave Vincent and all this evidence,
Speaker 2: all the statistical evidence that's supposed to say the Heat
Speaker 2: are incapable of doing this, and here they are, one
Speaker 2: win shy of another trip to the NBA Finals. But
Speaker 2: I have blathered enough about the East, Chris, It's time
Speaker 2: to turn it over to you. Update us on the West,
Speaker 2: the series that you're at. What I mean, how would
Speaker 2: you kind of describe the mood of the Lakers. I mean,
Speaker 2: the Lakers KO the defending champs. I'm sure they thought
Speaker 2: this was their time. Now basically later tonight after this
Speaker 2: podcast drops, Lakers facing elimination, have to win Game four
Speaker 2: at home just to keep the series going.
Speaker 1: Definitely, frustration in that locker room. Definitely.
Speaker 3: I walked into that locker room after Game three. Check
Speaker 3: out the scene. Check out the mood, the vibe. I mean,
Speaker 3: it was. It was as you would expect. I would
Speaker 3: say this. Sometimes you go into a locker room where
Speaker 3: a team is facing elimination, and you would expect it
Speaker 3: to be quiet.
Speaker 1: You would expect.
Speaker 3: Guys to just be in a you know, just in
Speaker 3: a frustrated disposition.
Speaker 1: But sometimes it's not.
Speaker 3: On occasion, there are teams that you know, they still
Speaker 3: fill up beat because they're still alive, and you just
Speaker 3: you don't get the sense when you walk in the
Speaker 3: locker room. You don't get the sense that they're done,
Speaker 3: or you don't get the sense that they feel like
Speaker 3: they're out of it. I got that sense after Game
Speaker 3: three that they're out. I got the sense that, you know,
Speaker 3: there's some things I could probably say later, but I
Speaker 3: got the sense.
Speaker 2: That remember them though.
Speaker 3: I can't forget this, Yeah, I can't forget this, but
Speaker 3: yeah it doesn't.
Speaker 1: And when I say done, I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 3: Do they win tonight again? We're recording this Monday afternoon.
Speaker 3: Do they win tonight? I don't know, but I don't
Speaker 3: They're not coming back in this series. Beat this Denver
Speaker 3: Nugget Squad four consecutive times. Don't see it happening at all,
Speaker 3: just like we don't see that happening in the East.
Speaker 1: But they made it this far. I don't see it.
Speaker 3: But look Stein, I don't want to get myself in
Speaker 3: trouble with Nuggets.
Speaker 1: Faithful.
Speaker 3: We can't spend too much time talking about the Lakers.
Speaker 3: Mike Malone will coach Malone will pitch a fit. We
Speaker 3: have to show some love.
Speaker 1: To the Nuggets.
Speaker 2: Mike Malone is Michael Malone just keeps saying that stuff
Speaker 2: because he's convinced his guys that the world hates them.
Speaker 2: And there's this discussion, now, have we all been unfair
Speaker 2: to the Denver Nuggets?
Speaker 1: All right, so let me ask that question. Man.
Speaker 3: All we can go on is based off of history.
Speaker 3: In recent history, they've had great regular seasons and they
Speaker 3: fall short in the postseason. And they really have kept
Speaker 3: the same roster. Who thought Bruce Brown was going to
Speaker 3: come in and play like this, especially on the offensive end.
Speaker 3: He's having the best year of his career. Nobody thought
Speaker 3: he was capable of that. They're playing he's not, He's
Speaker 3: not starting, but he's finishing games. Bruce Brown has been
Speaker 3: a a that was a hell of a pickup. He's
Speaker 3: going to earn his value in the offseason. They're a
Speaker 3: deeper team. They're just they're a great team. It's just
Speaker 3: that we've seen them dominating the regular season and then
Speaker 3: we've seen them fold in the playoffs.
Speaker 1: So that's all we can ever go off of.
Speaker 3: Now, when were talking about like ratings and you know,
Speaker 3: talking about that magnet who you know, getting eyeballs on
Speaker 3: the team, it's just like I enjoy watching them because
Speaker 3: I love hoops. You know, I play ball, I love ball.
Speaker 3: I enjoyed watching them. But Stein, would you agree that
Speaker 3: they are probably more casual NBA fans than diehard NBA fans?
Speaker 1: What what do you think?
Speaker 2: I don't know about that, but look, I mean I
Speaker 2: think the ratings numbers of Lakers Warriors in the second
Speaker 2: round were crazy, and that that probably backs that up
Speaker 2: to some degree, that that that a second round series
Speaker 2: could get the kind of numbers that Lakers Warriors did.
Speaker 2: And that's going to be the thing. I mean this,
Speaker 2: if it is Miami Denver, like we now all expect,
Speaker 2: the ratings talk is just going to be such an
Speaker 2: annoying part of this final because it's going to get
Speaker 2: brought up all the time. There's no way around it.
Speaker 2: I mean, i've you know, I think I've mentioned it
Speaker 2: on here before that I remember still remember conversations with
Speaker 2: editors at ESPN when the Nuggets acquired Alan Iverson because
Speaker 2: in that Mountain time zone, I don't know, I don't
Speaker 2: know what it is, but the Nuggets have always struggled
Speaker 2: to get any kind of spotlight or attention out there.
Speaker 2: So I thought, man, you got Mellow and Ai. This
Speaker 2: is finally the Nuggets time to be a national darling.
Speaker 2: And they weren't even with Ai. They didn't. I mean,
Speaker 2: they did that because I think it is that that
Speaker 2: for some reason, that time zone, that part of the world,
Speaker 2: the East Coast, is just not paying attention. I don't
Speaker 2: really have a better answer than that. It's just a
Speaker 2: theory that I can't prove. But I don't think a
Speaker 2: lot of people on the East Coast, unless they are
Speaker 2: absolutely NBA addicted, are tuning in to find Nuggets games.
Speaker 2: And you know, Yokic is still kind of like people are.
Speaker 2: People are still like discovering Man, this guy's really good
Speaker 2: and he's just ridiculous. I mean, what he's doing in
Speaker 2: the in these playoffs is ridiculous. But yeah, I'm not
Speaker 2: looking forward to that part of it, and I don't
Speaker 2: feel like I've dissed the Nuggets. I mean, the reality is,
Speaker 2: you know, they did it to themselves a little bit.
Speaker 2: They finished seven to ten, They didn't finish the season strongly.
Speaker 2: They basically had the top seed in the West wrapped up,
Speaker 2: and just it was a very indifferent finish to the
Speaker 2: regular season. I mean, Jokic even gave off the vibe
Speaker 2: to some that you know, he was trying to take
Speaker 2: himself out of the MVP race somehow because he didn't,
Speaker 2: he just got tired of the conversation and you know,
Speaker 2: just didn't finish with anything close to a flourish. But
Speaker 2: you know, fair or not, it's kind of the way
Speaker 2: we do it in the NBA that like the doubts
Speaker 2: are there until we see you do it, and now
Speaker 2: we're seeing the Nuggets do it. I do think that
Speaker 2: I do. I feel really strongly that the playoff underachiever
Speaker 2: tag that Jokic's face has been that has been unfit
Speaker 2: because this is the second time in four years he's
Speaker 2: had his team in the conference finals. But the two
Speaker 2: years they didn't make it, there was no Jamal Murray.
Speaker 2: I mean, here's a trivia question for you. Who on
Speaker 2: the Denver Nuggets besides Jokic has been an NBA All Star?
Speaker 2: How many? How many Denver Nuggets?
Speaker 3: I could name one, I believe, and he's not playing.
Speaker 3: I think DeAndre Jordan made an All Star.
Speaker 2: You got it is? That is the whole list. DeAndre Jordan, who,
Speaker 2: as you said early in this pod, he basically now
Speaker 2: is operating as their Eudonis Haslam. They're Andrea Iguodala, they're
Speaker 2: old head who kind of referees the locker room. That's
Speaker 2: basically what Jordan is giving them now. And he's the
Speaker 2: only All Star on that team besides Jokic. So incredible
Speaker 2: achievement for Jokic to have the Nuggets playing this well,
Speaker 2: and certainly Jamal Murray has has stepped it up two
Speaker 2: or three notches since the regular season. But I don't
Speaker 2: think we were intensionally disrespecting the Denver Nuggets. But I
Speaker 2: will concur completely that the player underachiever stuff that k
Speaker 2: has had to hear, and the notion that you know,
Speaker 2: these playoffs will validate his two MVPs and he should
Speaker 2: give them back if the Nuggets don't do well in
Speaker 2: these playoffs like I never I never bought that. You
Speaker 2: give you give Jokics just a good team, and he
Speaker 2: will get he will take you places.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna have to call out Sam Amic and I'm
Speaker 3: gonna have to inform Mike malonea this as well. Sam
Speaker 3: a mix of the athletic are a good guy. I
Speaker 3: saw him in Denver game was a game too, Yeah,
Speaker 3: Game two dressed casual, casual, you know it was the
Speaker 3: it's the the tire that we started wearing post pandemic.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody's loose, just casual. Then I see him
Speaker 3: Game three in LA suit tie, all dressed to the team,
Speaker 3: and I told him, I said, listen, man, you can't
Speaker 3: be disrespecting the Nuggets like that. You can't come to
Speaker 3: Denver dressing all casual. Now you come to LA with
Speaker 3: Staple Center, and now you want to dress all. I say,
Speaker 3: I'm gonna let coach Malone know about that, because he's
Speaker 3: getting disrespected not only by us not talking about them enough,
Speaker 3: but he's getting disrespected by the media with our tire.
Speaker 1: And so I'm looking forward.
Speaker 3: To seeing what how Sam maybe is gonna come dressed
Speaker 3: for Game four tonight.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna say anything to him. I'm gonna do
Speaker 2: a little test and see if what you say on
Speaker 2: this podcast just reaches him organically. I'm not going to
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna wind him up. Craziness all around. Really,
Speaker 2: this has been one of the strangest seasons I can remember.
Speaker 2: It came up a lot during the regular season, weirdest,
Speaker 2: meekest West in modern NBA history, only two fifty win
Speaker 2: teams instead of the usual five. Memphis barely got to
Speaker 2: fifty wins, Denver all alone. And now we've just seen
Speaker 2: complete chaos in the playoffs and you're doing the West.
Speaker 2: Will you be at all the finals? Some of the finals, Miami, Denver? Ready?
Speaker 2: Are you ready for that? Are you? Are you okay?
Speaker 2: I mean all right, No, wait a minute, what am I?
Speaker 2: What am I saying? You'll just do the South Beach games.
Speaker 3: You are not going to get me in trouble with
Speaker 3: Mike Malone at a diver Duggets faith.
Speaker 2: You keep calling Mike Malone. If you don't start saying
Speaker 2: Michael Malone, are you still saying Michael mallin? You're going
Speaker 2: to be in trouble.
Speaker 1: Michael Malone, my apausis coach. I don't want no smoke.
Speaker 3: But as far as my NBA Finals travels, I'm still
Speaker 3: debating on how I'm gonna tackle that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I already know you'll be at games. You'll be
Speaker 2: at games three four, You'll be at games three, four
Speaker 2: and six.
Speaker 1: If there isn't, I plead the fifth, I plead the fifth.
Speaker 2: All right, Well I've I've as usual, I've talked too much.
Speaker 2: You take us home, please, all right?
Speaker 3: I got two items real quick. I want to get
Speaker 3: to the first item. Star Dave mcmhnimon of ESPN. He
Speaker 3: got us all together on a group text to play
Speaker 3: some media pickup and I was able to get us
Speaker 3: a location at LMU yesterday.
Speaker 1: Oh wow, yesterday morning. So who showed up?
Speaker 3: Myself, Tony Jones, Dave mcminnimon, your guy, Tim McMahon.
Speaker 1: Who else?
Speaker 3: My guy, Nate Jones over there with good Win Sports
Speaker 3: working with.
Speaker 1: Dame who else?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: We details one guy in particular.
Speaker 3: He probably the surprise talent of that whole media pickup
Speaker 3: game yesterday. Vic Lombardi, the studio host pregame host for
Speaker 3: the Denver Nuggets. He's a season vet. He came out
Speaker 3: there balling stein balling. Oh caught me off guard. Caught
Speaker 3: me completely off guard, got the hesitation move, got the
Speaker 3: in and out move, and transition, went to the bucket.
Speaker 3: I saw him do that twice. But let me give
Speaker 3: you a scout report. David min him and me and
Speaker 3: Dave been Hooper for almost a decade. Spot up shooter
Speaker 3: knows how to move without the ball.
Speaker 1: You know me.
Speaker 3: You know I'm a playmaker, drive kick, get to the basket.
Speaker 3: You know I go dunk on somebody let's dunk. And
Speaker 3: now I didn't get a dunk yesterday, didn't even try.
Speaker 3: But that's my game. Hit the outside shot, Tibic Mahn
Speaker 3: my first time seeing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I need give McMahon.
Speaker 1: Oh oh lord. Murray was out there as well with
Speaker 1: the athletic Okay.
Speaker 2: How many flagrants did McMahon dole out Tim?
Speaker 1: No, not too much.
Speaker 3: Let me tell you why Tim didn't dole out too
Speaker 3: many flagers because Tim.
Speaker 1: Was guarding stretched for Nate Jones.
Speaker 3: So Nate Jones had Tim out on the perimeter for
Speaker 3: most of the time, so he wasn't able to unleash
Speaker 3: a pounding. So then I had to switch on to
Speaker 3: Nate to allow Tim to go guard somebody down, you know,
Speaker 3: on the block.
Speaker 1: But Tim. Let me tell you about Tim.
Speaker 3: I can tell that he hasn't played in a very
Speaker 3: very long time. I can tell that he's scared to
Speaker 3: use his limbs, his bottom limbs, just by the way
Speaker 3: he moves, so that lets me know he's probably had
Speaker 3: an injury in the past.
Speaker 1: But with all that being said, seeing through all that
Speaker 1: pain that he's dealing with, with all that.
Speaker 3: Being said, I can see, like hoopers can see if
Speaker 3: a guy used to be able to play, and Tim
Speaker 3: had some post moves and some pivots that I seen
Speaker 3: in there throughout all the chaos. I seen it, and
Speaker 3: I'm like, Okay, I think he Tim used to be
Speaker 3: able to hoop when he was when everything was working properly.
Speaker 3: Now he started off slow, but then he got his
Speaker 3: rhythm back. But I tried. I made a mistake. I
Speaker 3: saw Tim running on it a transition. He was running
Speaker 3: on the wing, and throughout the day I would not
Speaker 3: pass it to Tim on the wing in transition.
Speaker 1: I'm only giving it to you in the post.
Speaker 3: But I said, let me try him out, because you know,
Speaker 3: in the NBA today you could give it to anybody
Speaker 3: on the wing and let him go.
Speaker 1: I gave it to Tim on the wing.
Speaker 3: He dribbled, tried to pass like it was just an
Speaker 3: awkward pass, and law picked it off and went and scored.
Speaker 3: And I said, Tim, never again am I passing to
Speaker 3: you in transition? Get your ass back in the pain?
Speaker 3: He said, I completely understand, my bad. But that's that's
Speaker 3: that's that's pretty much.
Speaker 2: You know, Tony, you said, you said, Tony.
Speaker 3: Tony, I poop with Tony. So Tony is a floor general.
Speaker 3: He's going to get everybody in the spot Tony who
Speaker 3: Tony played college like like me?
Speaker 1: So Tony is a floor general. He gets everybody in
Speaker 1: their sets, keep the offense going.
Speaker 3: And then you know, Tony has a big body, so
Speaker 3: he takes you down the post.
Speaker 1: He was posting a Vic Lombardi getting him up in
Speaker 1: the air. Uh for the and one. Tony's a hooper,
Speaker 1: so no surprise.
Speaker 2: I think I think Nate Jones secretly wants to be
Speaker 2: a media member. He's tweeting all night commenting. I think
Speaker 2: he wants I think he wants to you know, he's
Speaker 2: he's in the agent business, but I think he secretly
Speaker 2: wants to be a media guy.
Speaker 3: Native is he understands us Nate understands and one thing
Speaker 3: about like a lot of agents or a lot of
Speaker 3: person there who work within the agency. A lot of
Speaker 3: them have I always say, have disdain towards the media.
Speaker 3: But Nate, Nate gets it. He gets us, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean, he gets us. So I don't know,
Speaker 3: I've maybe out of asked him if he has a
Speaker 3: secret fetish for wanting to be one of us. I
Speaker 3: don't know why he would, but he was out and
Speaker 3: Nate Nate is a shoot. So I was guarding Nate Nate,
Speaker 3: he's shooting deep. He's shooting steph threes and and the
Speaker 3: the the court that we're playing on is the NBA
Speaker 3: three point line and that's when we played off of that,
Speaker 3: and so he's shooting deep. So Nate is a floor spacer.
Speaker 3: He would admit, he say he's getting better shape. But
Speaker 3: you know, Nate, Nate's cool. He's a hooper.
Speaker 1: That's the first item.
Speaker 2: I really don't know, like how many guys from my
Speaker 2: generation still play. You know, it's been years since I participated.
Speaker 2: But I mean in the nineties, like the media pickup game,
Speaker 2: especially at the finals and especially at the finals All
Speaker 2: Star but especially the finals was such a big deal.
Speaker 2: Like Buker, Chris Brussard, Kate. I just saw Casey Johnson
Speaker 2: at the lottery in Chicago. I should have asked him
Speaker 2: if he's still playing, because Casey's still in great shape.
Speaker 2: But all of us fifty somethings, I don't know if anybody.
Speaker 2: I don't know if any of us are still Sean Powell,
Speaker 2: I don't know if anybody still plays. Something tells me
Speaker 2: Broussard can still can still play a little bit.
Speaker 3: Well, let me tell you something. You're not finished yet.
Speaker 3: Don You only finish if if you allow your mind?
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm finished, believe me me. I don't. First of all,
Speaker 2: I don't know that I ever really started, but I am.
Speaker 2: I am way finished. The last The last time I played,
Speaker 2: I think the last time I played in a media
Speaker 2: game was the year the Thunder were in the finals,
Speaker 2: because I remember, if I remember Michael Cage, Thunder broadcaster,
Speaker 2: played with us. Obviously, former NBA player Brent Barry definitely played,
Speaker 2: so I remember Brent. Brent kept passing me the ball
Speaker 2: took me about six tries to finally knock one down,
Speaker 2: and he was hooking me up. So that the last
Speaker 2: time I remember playing, Like I said, we just more
Speaker 2: than a decade ago. There were former NBA players turned
Speaker 2: media members who were playing and that was that was interesting.
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, I'm I'm done, man, But I'd love
Speaker 2: to watch. If I was with if I was at
Speaker 2: this series, I would have been there watching LMU. Man.
Speaker 2: I have fond memories of LMU. That was the LMU
Speaker 2: is where the Lakers practiced when I was a Laker
Speaker 2: beat writer many many many years ago. Wow Shaq and
Speaker 2: Kobe their first year together. LMU was the was the
Speaker 2: That's where the Lakers.
Speaker 1: Practiced, great great hospitality.
Speaker 3: It was last minute that they arranged to open up
Speaker 3: the gym for us, So I appreciate them for doing that.
Speaker 3: And I also want to call out two individuals. One
Speaker 3: I've already called out today, Sam Maymitt calling you out,
Speaker 3: Vincent Goodwill calling you out that those two did not show.
Speaker 3: Were scared, they were punks, whatever you want to call
Speaker 3: They were scared to come out and play with the
Speaker 3: rest of the out of shape media. I don't want
Speaker 3: to hear about I'm out of shape. I'm out of shamed.
Speaker 3: Who is in shape?
Speaker 2: Does Spears still play?
Speaker 1: Nah, Spears don't play anymore. I didn't even I didn't
Speaker 1: even waste the invitation. Spears didn't play.
Speaker 3: But he lets me, He'll tell me I'm calling out Sam.
Speaker 3: I'm calling out Sam, and I'm calling out Vincent Goodwill.
Speaker 1: That yahoo. So Steinn, that's my first item. The second
Speaker 1: that was good.
Speaker 2: I like that. That was good.
Speaker 1: Second item might be better than that.
Speaker 3: So Stein, one of my partners, one of my home
Speaker 3: he's from Fresno, sends me a text and he was like, bro,
Speaker 3: guess who came into the barbershop. Remember you know, Fresno's
Speaker 3: my hometown. That's my town. I'm the informal mayor of Fresno.
Speaker 3: I'm like, all right, who came in the barbershop? So
Speaker 3: he sends me a little video. It's video of Yanni's
Speaker 3: just talking to everybody, just like like talking trash Giannis
Speaker 3: after the kompo. So for context, everybody, Yannis's girlfriend, the
Speaker 3: woman he has kids buy that is my cousin Mariah
Speaker 3: or all from Fresno.
Speaker 1: Whatever.
Speaker 3: So Jannis is in Fresno visiting family. My my younger cousin,
Speaker 3: Mariah's sister. She graduated not too long ago. Mariah's other
Speaker 3: sister graduated as well. So he's down there attended some
Speaker 3: graduations and hanging and kicking. So he goes to Phase
Speaker 3: two Barbershop and Stein Phase two barbershops. So anyway, I'm
Speaker 3: gonna get to the text. Miss Me and Janni's had
Speaker 3: a text exchange. So Phase two Barbershop is a barbershop
Speaker 3: on the west side of town in Fresno. Like the
Speaker 3: it's the roughest area in Fresne. That's where I grew
Speaker 3: up at, right, So I first of all, I was
Speaker 3: like cool, Jannis went over there. I like that, you know,
Speaker 3: that's cool Pat Riddle Sprigger, which is my big cousin.
Speaker 3: That's Mariah's dad. He took Giannis over there. So I
Speaker 3: text Giantis. I said, I see you all up in
Speaker 3: my city. Liaugh out loud. And then Yanni sends me
Speaker 3: a video clip of him hanging with some Fresno kids
Speaker 3: and he says, Fresno loves me man. They I said,
Speaker 3: I see, I said, my partner sent me a video
Speaker 3: you in a barbershop. I said, I'll let the streets
Speaker 3: know that you're good so you can walk safely around town.
Speaker 3: And he laughed out loud. He said, they're trying to
Speaker 3: convince me to play for the Warriors or the Lakers.
Speaker 3: And so I'm talking to it, and so I said, listen,
Speaker 3: can you got to understand people understanding, Friendsnoe. We're right
Speaker 3: in the middle of the Bay Area, in the middle,
Speaker 3: you know, in between the Bay Area and LA So
Speaker 3: you're either a Warriors fan or you're either a Lakers fan.
Speaker 3: Now we don't we don't have too many Kings fans
Speaker 3: and Fresne so that's only obvious like that, I said.
Speaker 3: So I said that that is expected. I said, that's expected.
Speaker 3: Then he talks about how he's only had a haircut twice.
Speaker 3: He's only went to a barbershop twice since he's been
Speaker 3: in America. Only went to a barbershop twice since he's
Speaker 3: been in America, and those two times have been at
Speaker 3: Phase two barbershop. And that tripped me out, so that
Speaker 3: you know, obviously he's gotten a haircut more than twice
Speaker 3: since he's been in America, but he's only went to
Speaker 3: a barbershop twice, and that's at Phase two barbershop in Fresno.
Speaker 3: And he told me to let them know that they
Speaker 3: need to put a put his jersey up in the barbershop.
Speaker 1: But I'm here.
Speaker 3: The report that Fresno was recruiting Giannis to either play
Speaker 3: for the Lakers or the Warriors. So I'm gonna tell
Speaker 3: you this so if anything, if anything happens, I don't
Speaker 3: I'm not.
Speaker 1: I don't have any intail or anything.
Speaker 3: If anything happens where Giannis ends up playing for the
Speaker 3: Warriors or the Lakers, you can blame my city.
Speaker 1: My city has something to do with it.
Speaker 2: Nine five five nine, yet nine two oh nine, depending
Speaker 2: on how old you are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go.
Speaker 2: I have not been to Fresno for more than thirty years.
Speaker 2: I think I now again. When I was I've told
Speaker 2: you this when I was in school for at least
Speaker 2: part of my time, and Fresno was still in the
Speaker 2: Big West with us. Not all my years of school,
Speaker 2: but at least at the beginning, they were still in
Speaker 2: the Big West. Still remember the legendary Ron Adams coaching
Speaker 2: and Titan gym. I can still see that, But it's
Speaker 2: been more I don't think I've been there since the
Speaker 2: early nineties when I was covering minor league baseball in Vicealia.
Speaker 2: But I would love to be with you and see Jannis.
Speaker 2: I can't even imagine Jannis and Fresno. I so badly
Speaker 2: want to see what that looks like.
Speaker 3: Phase two Barbershop is a very small barbershop, obviously black
Speaker 3: on legendary barbers that have been there for years. Man,
Speaker 3: So it's a cool like it's one of the marquee
Speaker 3: spots on the west side of Fresno. Like, if you
Speaker 3: had to get a cut on the west side, most
Speaker 3: people will probably refer you to Phase two. It's been
Speaker 3: there for a while. And just to see Yanni's in there.
Speaker 3: In the video he showed me ya us is just talking.
Speaker 3: He's just my home, my homeboy. He was just like
Speaker 3: really surprised with just how open was and how much
Speaker 3: engaged you was. And you know, he enjoyed it, man,
Speaker 3: So that was cool.
Speaker 2: You gotta do a story with him where you and
Speaker 2: him hang out in Fresno for a day. I want
Speaker 2: to see that.
Speaker 3: That would be cool. I don't know how long he's
Speaker 3: he's there. He went there for some graduations, so he
Speaker 3: might have left, uh today or yesterday.
Speaker 2: But I don't know that Milwaukee residents love this story.
Speaker 2: But that was good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, probably I didn't see you.
Speaker 2: I didn't see you taking us there to end this show,
Speaker 2: all right? That does it for this edition of this
Speaker 2: League uncut By the time Chris and I join you
Speaker 2: the next time, I think both the Heat and the
Speaker 2: Nuggets will have secured their spots in the NBA Finals.
Speaker 2: We are likely looking at a at a long the
Speaker 2: break before the finals could be as many as eight days.
Speaker 2: If both of these teams will have finished finished off sweeps.
Speaker 2: Denver goes for the sweep in LA later tonight. Miami
Speaker 2: has the chance to sweep Boston on Tuesday Final start
Speaker 2: June first, and this is going to be potentially yet
Speaker 2: another great development from Miami because if there is that
Speaker 2: long break, I have to think the Heat will go
Speaker 2: to Denver way earlier than usual and actually be able
Speaker 2: to get some extra time in the altitude that they
Speaker 2: wouldn't have normally had for practices had these two series
Speaker 2: gone six or seven like they're supposed to do. All Right,
Speaker 2: we covered a lot of ground and again many many
Speaker 2: hat tips and congratulations to Carmelo Anthony on an absolute
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame career. Stein and Haynes Back with you
Speaker 2: later this week. Until then, please rate, review and subscribe
Speaker 2: and that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 2: This League Uncutta is an iHeartRadio production suck a lock up.
Speaker 2: Chris Haynes and Mark Stein