Speaker 1: You're tuned into Heat Check with Triste Quick.
Speaker 2: On this episode of the Heat Check, I'm back from Sacramento, baby,
Speaker 2: and I've got a first hand report on the Kings
Speaker 2: and the Lakers, and goddamn it, I didn't get to
Speaker 2: warm up on that beam.
Speaker 1: No beam for me.
Speaker 2: But what I got was a massive once in a
Speaker 2: generation storm that just cleared out three hundred thousand homes
Speaker 2: worth of power, put one hundred year old trees on
Speaker 2: roofs right next to my Airbnb. So I saw some
Speaker 2: shit that was historic. I had get into some drama
Speaker 2: surrounding Lebron. We move forward and we talk about John Collins,
Speaker 2: who has been just circulating in trade rumors since pre pandemic. Honestly,
Speaker 2: like he's had it. He's had it with the trade rumors.
Speaker 2: There's now trouble brewing in Brooklyn now that Kevin Durant
Speaker 2: has gone down with an mcl sprain, and oh my god,
Speaker 2: what is happening in Chicago with Zach Lavine and Billy
Speaker 2: Donovan because no one's seems to know the path forward.
Speaker 1: And of course we talk about what NBA player said
Speaker 1: he wanted to beat Skip Bayless's ass. Lot to talk
Speaker 1: about Nick so drop that generic beat.
Speaker 2: So I had the pleasure the honor of going out
Speaker 2: to Sacramento for the very first time. I had never
Speaker 2: been there in my life, let alone seen a King's Game.
Speaker 1: Let alone been to the new.
Speaker 2: Golden One Arena, let alone enjoy the presence of Casey
Speaker 2: and Dill, Kenny Carroway, Damian Barling, who are the absolute best.
Speaker 1: But that King's Game was some bullshit. Let's be honest, Like.
Speaker 2: Kings Lakers, let's just before we get into it. The pageantry.
Speaker 2: It was I think their eighth or ninth consecutive sellout.
Speaker 2: The fan base was rocking. We got there, we went
Speaker 2: to dinner right across the way. The way that it's
Speaker 2: actually set up is really cool. So they've got this
Speaker 2: Kimpton hotel called the Sawyer right across from the arena,
Speaker 2: and all the players stay there and it's like you
Speaker 2: can tunnel in so you don't even have to leave.
Speaker 2: And I tell you what, when you know and you're
Speaker 2: a woman and you know where the players are staying
Speaker 2: one thousand percent, the lobby was wild, like even pregame
Speaker 2: before the team buses showed up. I mean, there were
Speaker 2: girls basically naked out there in the lobby of the hotel,
Speaker 2: just sitting there and just milling about.
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, I know what you're doing.
Speaker 2: You're trying to catch a lebron You're trying to catch
Speaker 2: a shrewder like you're waiting.
Speaker 1: They had so much.
Speaker 2: This was like three point thirty four PM, right game
Speaker 2: starts at seven. They're like, nope, I'm not waiting for
Speaker 2: after at the after show. I'm gonna try to get
Speaker 2: them when they're in their pregame warm up and warm
Speaker 2: them up on my beam. And they were this amount
Speaker 2: of makeup that the women had on. It was crazy. Anyway,
Speaker 2: it's like maybe like maybe one hundred yards from the
Speaker 2: entrance of the arena, which is fucking awesome.
Speaker 1: And they have these Kings residences too.
Speaker 2: So there's like this frosty glass door and it's like
Speaker 2: King's Residences. Apparently Demona Simonis stayed there for the entire
Speaker 2: duration of the season and he got traded there like
Speaker 2: a awesome condos, just very pimp shit, and so that
Speaker 2: was awesome. So we went to dinner quote unquote, it
Speaker 2: was like the it was like the Grandma Special. We
Speaker 2: ate at four because the game started at seven, so
Speaker 2: we went and got steak at this place inside the
Speaker 2: Sawyer Hotel called Echo and rig awesome steaks. They had
Speaker 2: like nine different steaks to choose from, all.
Speaker 1: Grass fed, really great. Chopped it up with Kyle and
Speaker 1: Kenny and Damien.
Speaker 2: Then we went into the arena, met up with all
Speaker 2: the you know, big jay journalists like James ham and
Speaker 2: and we got to meet I got to meet Deuce
Speaker 2: and Mo who I've been on their podcast before.
Speaker 1: They're awesome, give them a follow.
Speaker 2: It was just one big, one big reunion of people
Speaker 2: who have never met each other, they had met each other.
Speaker 2: I got to see Phil Handy. He gave me a
Speaker 2: big hug. That was a whole thing.
Speaker 1: It was awesome. Got to be on the court.
Speaker 2: And then because we were just like ten deep of
Speaker 2: journalists like, oh.
Speaker 1: No, I love you, Oh no, I love you. Oh no,
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of your stuff. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: we gotta get together. Oh where'd you go at sacramto
Speaker 1: the security of the team. By the way, these are.
Speaker 2: King's journalists who have been there every single game so far.
Speaker 2: They're like, hey, you guys can't be here. You're too
Speaker 2: much right now, this is too much. There's professional photogs
Speaker 2: taking pictures of us. We've got like fans coming up.
Speaker 2: It was a thing, right, it was a thing. And
Speaker 2: and Damien and Kenny were like, we do this every game,
Speaker 2: like whatever's happening with you?
Speaker 1: They're not, they don't want this. We go through the tunnel, they're.
Speaker 2: Hardcore checking our credentials now, which, by the way, my credential,
Speaker 2: which was made out of paper, ripped off my wrist,
Speaker 2: so I had to just like show it like a badge,
Speaker 2: and they're like, just make sure you see it. So
Speaker 2: we all hung out in the media room, did our thing,
Speaker 2: go up to the media area, which is a great,
Speaker 2: incredible view. They were kind, they're kind of spoiled. They
Speaker 2: want to be down on the floor. But I've been
Speaker 2: in Staples before. They put you in the like six hundreds,
Speaker 2: you know, they like put you in the noseblazes, so
Speaker 2: really cool stuff. But in terms of the game, probably
Speaker 2: one of the better games of the season. I would say,
Speaker 2: back and forth and back and forth again. Final score
Speaker 2: one thirty six, one thirty four, so no defense was
Speaker 2: being played at all. Daron Fox is amazing, Like he's
Speaker 2: one of those players that you see up close and
Speaker 2: personal where you totally understand why he's better than you
Speaker 2: think he is on TV. In the fourth quarter, I
Speaker 2: don't know what he had in the fourth quarter. I
Speaker 2: want to say it had to been twelve.
Speaker 1: It was nuts.
Speaker 2: It was at absolutely nuts, and he just couldn't miss.
Speaker 2: And the King's got into this huge deficit. We're starting
Speaker 2: to freak out because we're out by the concourse and
Speaker 2: by the NBC Sports Bay Area little booth meeting fans.
Speaker 2: We look up and they're down like nine, or like
Speaker 2: down twelve. Kenny's like, they'll cut it. Lebron's on the
Speaker 2: bench in the fourth quarter, They'll cut it to two
Speaker 2: and we'll see what happens. And I tell you what,
Speaker 2: Fox just took over.
Speaker 1: Insane.
Speaker 2: Also, we've got to give love to my man Demonisa Bonis.
Speaker 2: He had a horrible, horrible night and Sabonis had what
Speaker 2: did he had? He had twenty five twelve and seven
Speaker 2: and he had one rebound in the first quarter. He
Speaker 2: was largely garbage in the first quarter. He got fouled
Speaker 2: out early and he still had twenty five twelve and seven.
Speaker 1: That's insane. He's so good. Thomas Bryant, though, this team,
Speaker 1: this King's team, needs a backup five. This is the
Speaker 1: most Kings Talk will probably do in this detail.
Speaker 2: But I was there. So they need a backup five, right,
Speaker 2: they need one. They found one. His name's Thomas Bryant.
Speaker 2: He plays for the Lakers. He gave them twenty nine
Speaker 2: and fourteen. He was making he was making Sabonis.
Speaker 1: Look like a like a wet tissue paper.
Speaker 2: He was so movable, demonic. Sabonis is known for being
Speaker 2: so strong. So you know, like Steven Adams light and
Speaker 2: Thomas Bryant, Thomas Bryant. Can we just say Thomas Bryant
Speaker 2: put up twenty nine and fourteen.
Speaker 1: He's not that good. He's fine player.
Speaker 2: He had the second most points of his career that night,
Speaker 2: so he was a beast. Dennis Shrewder, the one who
Speaker 2: turned down eighty four million dollars from the Lakers, now
Speaker 2: is back on a veteran minimum. He had twenty seven,
Speaker 2: four and two. He had four threes, four for five
Speaker 2: from three, eight for eleven shooting. His drive is pretty
Speaker 2: much what sealed the game for them because Darren fox
Speaker 2: hip checked them.
Speaker 1: They called him for a foul.
Speaker 2: There's only two seconds left, and now, what what do
Speaker 2: you figure they're gonna do like, there's tie the tie game,
Speaker 2: Dennis Shooter now goes to the free throw line, but
Speaker 2: they call a challenge. They don't have any more timeouts now,
Speaker 2: and so Dennis Shooter hits both free throws. You're down two,
Speaker 2: You've got two seconds, no timeouts to advance the ball.
Speaker 2: I think they moved it actually up to three point
Speaker 2: six seconds. Daron Fox actually gets slapped on the arm
Speaker 2: while he's shooting from three after that hip check foul.
Speaker 1: No call on Russell Westbrook, just absolutely insane.
Speaker 2: And then of course Mike Brown after the game is
Speaker 2: like Barry and Keegan Murray because he had zero rebounds.
Speaker 2: So that's like what he came there for. It's a
Speaker 2: mess like the Kings right now. Don't let the national
Speaker 2: media foolia like me. The in Sacramento, they.
Speaker 1: Are quietly worried. They are quietly feeling like the only.
Speaker 2: Reason that we are still here is because the Clippers
Speaker 2: are on a slump six game, five game losing streak.
Speaker 2: The Warriors are on this little baby slump, and the
Speaker 2: Suns are on a massive six game slump. In terms
Speaker 2: of Golden One, I think it's a top three arena
Speaker 2: in the league. It's so insane. It's so amazing. You
Speaker 2: walk in the front entrance. I love stadium reviews. You
Speaker 2: walk in the front entrance and you immediately see the court.
Speaker 2: It's in like think about that. You immediately walk in
Speaker 2: and you're like, oh, yeah, basketball is being played here.
Speaker 2: There's no walls or cylinders that keep you from seeing.
Speaker 2: Oh there's well, there's not banners, but you know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying. There's not banners, but where banners would be,
Speaker 2: you can see that. You can see the raptors where
Speaker 2: the banners will be. You can see like the dip
Speaker 2: into the bowl of the arena. You walk in and
Speaker 2: it's very much like indoor outdoor vibes. There's windows that
Speaker 2: they open up in the middle of the spring so
Speaker 2: that like little birds can fly through. I guess sunshine, wind, noise,
Speaker 2: who knows, just fresh air. There's a bar up top
Speaker 2: that functions as a standing room only section so that
Speaker 2: you can watch the game while you're at the bar.
Speaker 1: Just a total meat market. It's I think it's Sierra Nevada.
Speaker 2: Draft house spelled like drought house, you know, but that's
Speaker 2: how you spell draft I guess anyway, awesome. Lebron James
Speaker 2: amazing in that game, just insane. But at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, no beam for me, lots of trees down,
Speaker 2: lots of power out. Went to Little Speakeasy something after
Speaker 2: the game, hung out, got back to my Airbnb. No power,
Speaker 2: no heat, no power, no phone charging ability, nothing.
Speaker 1: So it was eventful, very eventful.
Speaker 2: Met some guys, one guy named Travis the Terror at
Speaker 2: a bar.
Speaker 1: It was awesome.
Speaker 2: I recommend going to Sacramento. That's enough Sacramento talk. Let's
Speaker 2: talk about Lebron James. Lot of rumors surrounding Lebron James,
Speaker 2: tons of them. We got to get to the bottom
Speaker 2: of what's real, because it was. It was awesome seeing
Speaker 2: Lebron James as Laker. That was my very first time
Speaker 2: seeing him in.
Speaker 1: Purple and gold.
Speaker 2: He's probably better than I've seen him in a long time,
Speaker 2: going to the rack, not settling for jumpers, impossible to
Speaker 2: stop just to freight train. I mean, he's been doing
Speaker 2: this too. I think he's probably better now than he
Speaker 2: is in his rookie season.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. He's better now than he was in his
Speaker 1: rookie season. So just before the.
Speaker 2: Game again Sacramento, Lebron was interviewed in an article in
Speaker 2: The Athletic. They claimed he was growing impatient with the
Speaker 2: lakers lack of action in the trade market, in the
Speaker 2: trade front, so he ends this interview. It's a full
Speaker 2: back and forth where he's playing cat and mouse with
Speaker 2: one of the Athletic reporters who will not be named, and.
Speaker 1: In the back and forth he ends the interview.
Speaker 2: Lebron James ends the interview and says, y'all know what
Speaker 2: the fuck should be happening. I don't need to talk
Speaker 2: to you because they're trying to prod them. Hey, do
Speaker 2: you wish they would do more? Do you wish they
Speaker 2: would do more? And he's like, listen, it's not my
Speaker 2: job to make them do more. And they're like, well,
Speaker 2: but you're you're playing so well, Like what do you
Speaker 2: think You're sort of still in your prime your championship window.
Speaker 2: And he's like, dude, just get off me, get off me.
Speaker 2: In at the end of the interview, he says, y'all
Speaker 2: know what the fuck they need to do, Like, just
Speaker 2: get I don't need to talk to you. So then
Speaker 2: they published the article, and in response to the article,
Speaker 2: because the headline was like Lebron's patience is waning, he says, actually,
Speaker 2: my patients, he quote tweets the article, by the way,
Speaker 2: I think by the reporter. He quote tweets the reporter,
Speaker 2: which is always a great sign. I think there's six
Speaker 2: thousand quote tweets, and he goes, actually, my patients isn't waning.
Speaker 2: You make it sound like I'm frustrated when I'm really not.
Speaker 2: I told you over and over my job is focused
Speaker 2: on the guys in the locker room. My job isn't
Speaker 2: on the roster. That's the reality of that conversation. And
Speaker 2: I said what I said with the utmost respect and calmness,
Speaker 2: because that's the mood I'm in. You're welcome, five game
Speaker 2: winning streak, smiley face, laughing emoji, wink emoji. Case closed. Right,
Speaker 2: that's the case closed. It's over, no drama. Lebron wants
Speaker 2: to stay in LA and everything's fine. He's happy with
Speaker 2: the lack of action. Nothing's happening, No one's going to
Speaker 2: trade for him, nothing. Right, this is the end of
Speaker 2: the segment.
Speaker 1: Well, it's not this league without this league.
Speaker 2: Right, you don't know the NBA If you don't think
Speaker 2: that GMS didn't see that article and say, let's just
Speaker 2: make a Callie call. Let's just ring ring, just do
Speaker 2: a little phone conversation, because the rumors today were full
Speaker 2: of gms.
Speaker 1: Preparing for a Lebron trade.
Speaker 2: According to Seandavaney at heavy dot Com, multiple teams are
Speaker 2: preparing for exactly that a Lebron trade. Let's break down
Speaker 2: this rumor. Devaney wrote, the notion of any team for
Speaker 2: enough to employ Lebron James in a trade sounds ludicrous,
Speaker 2: But if circumstances around James's current team, the Lakers continue
Speaker 2: on their current path, that could be the next step
Speaker 2: for James. According to executives around the league, multiple teams
Speaker 2: multiple teams are preparing for the possibility that James will
Speaker 2: seek to force a trade this summer, as he, having
Speaker 2: just turned thirty eight, looks to finish his career in
Speaker 2: a winning environment. And unlike this past offseason in which
Speaker 2: teams were blindsided by the trade demand lodge by star
Speaker 2: Ford Kevin Durant on the eve of free agency, front
Speaker 2: offices around the NBA will be prepared for James's potential move.
Speaker 2: Everyone was stunned when Kevin Durant asked for a trade.
Speaker 2: They couldn't even make it happen. They weren't in preparation mode.
Speaker 2: They didn't know Star was going to be available, so
Speaker 2: they didn't have assets or cap space or anything. They're like, fuck,
Speaker 2: I didn't know Kevin Durant could be available your Phoenix,
Speaker 2: and you're like, damn short of Devin Booker, we can't
Speaker 2: do shit. No, no, that's not gonna happen this time.
Speaker 2: And you know what, I hate to say, I saw
Speaker 2: it coming, but I did. The second this Westbrook trade
Speaker 2: went sideways, Lebron was either going to never make the
Speaker 2: playoffs ever again, that team would need a complete restart
Speaker 2: and he would be in hell in the most beautiful
Speaker 2: weather environment possible, or he'd be like, let me get
Speaker 2: the fuck out of here, let me get the hell
Speaker 2: out of Dodge, because there's just no way he could
Speaker 2: spend the rest of his career in like the goal
Speaker 2: being the play in tournament. His goal now is to
Speaker 2: play in tournament. That's where it is. That's just the facts,
Speaker 2: and the problem, of course, is that's Rob Plink's fault.
Speaker 1: The Lakers have no more aces in the hole.
Speaker 2: They have two first round picks that they are refusing
Speaker 2: to trade, and fair enough, because it's probably not gonna
Speaker 2: take him over the hump right, They're not gonna be
Speaker 2: a tender If they do that. Now, they're just even
Speaker 2: more fucked for the next year. It's kind of a
Speaker 2: no win.
Speaker 1: Situation, a hole that they've dug themselves into.
Speaker 2: And at this point you might not even be able
Speaker 2: to get Buddy Heald and Miles Turner anymore for the
Speaker 2: two first round picks that it was going to require,
Speaker 2: because Buddy hild is playing awesome, Miles Turner is playing awesome.
Speaker 2: An executive for the Eastern Conference Contender says this that
Speaker 2: is the most likely thing if he wants to end
Speaker 2: on a good note. The most likely scenario is to
Speaker 2: go back to Cleveland one last time.
Speaker 1: I'm coming home. I'm coming home.
Speaker 2: It is a good team, you can win, and it's
Speaker 2: where it all started. No one's gonna hate him for
Speaker 2: going to Cleveland again. The trick is that is getting
Speaker 2: the numbers to match up.
Speaker 1: If you could do something with Kevin Love's contract, that
Speaker 1: could be key. Pause what that is.
Speaker 2: Well, I think last year during the All Star break,
Speaker 2: he started to put the breadcrumbs out in the ether
Speaker 2: about how much he appreciates Kobe Autman, how much he
Speaker 2: loves what JB.
Speaker 1: Bickerstaff is doing.
Speaker 2: But so much of this obviously is impacted by where
Speaker 2: Lebron James Junior lands Bronnie, and I doubt that Bronni
Speaker 2: wants to be spending the beginning of his.
Speaker 1: Career in Cleveland.
Speaker 2: Ask Lebron Senor how Cleveland is when you're single, young, rich.
Speaker 2: It's not great. It's not great destination. Truthfully, there is
Speaker 2: another option out there. According to a Western Conference exec,
Speaker 2: if there's a bidding war going on at some point,
Speaker 2: this is where it gets really interesting for very important team,
Speaker 2: our team.
Speaker 1: There's a bidding war going on at some point.
Speaker 2: The Warriors are in a great position because they can
Speaker 2: give you the young guys, Wiseman coaminga moody Pat Baldwin.
Speaker 2: I can't believe Pat Ball wants thrown in there whoever
Speaker 2: the Lakers want. But you have to either add Jordan
Speaker 2: Poole Andrew Wiggins. And that's not easy. Pause, Yes it is, Yes,
Speaker 2: it is.
Speaker 1: For our dubs. I'll give everybody.
Speaker 2: I'll give Pool, I'll give Wiggeds, I'll give Wiseman. You
Speaker 2: could have them all, you can have them all. We'll
Speaker 2: take Lebron for our dubs. Get another chip, you know,
Speaker 2: what I mean, just continue the dominance. But if they
Speaker 2: want to win now, you can give up pool. If
Speaker 2: you're getting back Lebron, he says. If they keep Draymond
Speaker 2: and come back with Steph, Clay, Draymond and Lebron, that
Speaker 2: would be a fun, fun team to watch. There would
Speaker 2: not be a possibility that average people could afford tickets
Speaker 2: to go.
Speaker 1: To those games.
Speaker 2: No one would be I mean, they would be sold
Speaker 2: out months in advance. The Nosebleeds would be like six
Speaker 2: hundred dollars court side, like Taylor Swift concert tickets. He's
Speaker 2: like thirty k a ticket for a courtside show of
Speaker 2: Steph Stephan Braun, even for one year. Oh my god,
Speaker 2: I don't think the Warriors could pull the trigger fast enough.
Speaker 1: If Stephan Braun.
Speaker 2: And it's fitting because they've been basically warring this whole time,
Speaker 2: right the first ten years of Lebron's career, twelve years
Speaker 2: or whatever it was. He just threw subtle shade shots
Speaker 2: at Staph. Steph kind of went back and forth. It
Speaker 2: was all very low key, nothing above the ground, but
Speaker 2: you knew there was like this little mini rivalry. If
Speaker 2: they come together, they will be in spot. It's like
Speaker 2: I don't even know, I don't have words for it.
Speaker 2: This team would break every attendance record in every arena,
Speaker 2: every single game. It would be like Kobe and MJ
Speaker 2: or Bird and Magic playing on the same fucking team
Speaker 2: in their prime years. It would transcend a superteam. It
Speaker 2: would be super super team. And somehow, now, if you
Speaker 2: add Brownie James in the mix, maybe you keep Lebron
Speaker 2: there for well past this prime. It doesn't matter if
Speaker 2: Joe lacob is paying five hundred million dollars with the
Speaker 2: luxury tax, our dubs still swimming in money. You raise
Speaker 2: the prices, you raise the popcorn, you raise the drinks,
Speaker 2: you raise the parking, you raise everything. Everything changes. Championships
Speaker 2: En Sue Katie was the story last offseason.
Speaker 1: Is Lebron gonna be the story this off season? If so,
Speaker 1: I cannot wish