Speaker 1: Welcome to this League Uncut in the rule of twenty
Speaker 1: four hour NBA News.
Speaker 2: This's you, Chris Hans.
Speaker 1: It's time, work's time, it's some time. This League Uncut
Speaker 1: is underway and on fire. This should be a good one.
Speaker 3: Everyone, Welcome to another edition of This League Uncut. Mark
Speaker 3: Stein here with Chris Haynes. In the second half of
Speaker 3: this show, we will naturally take a detailed look at
Speaker 3: the headline news out of Milwaukee Thursday, the Bucks announcing
Speaker 3: that they have parted ways with championship winning coach Mike Budenholzer.
Speaker 3: But we're gonna start with the playoffs. It's not often
Speaker 3: again that we get the chance to come on or
Speaker 3: the chance to record. Right after the final buzzer, we
Speaker 3: made the decision we're recording this on Thursday night for
Speaker 3: a Friday morning release, and we made the decision, Hey,
Speaker 3: we gotta we got to wait and let this Lakers
Speaker 3: Warriors Game two play out and then record. And so,
Speaker 3: unfortunately we were not treated to a classic like Game one.
Speaker 3: We were basically treated to the rerun of what happened
Speaker 3: in the Boston Philly series. Just a game to route snooze.
Speaker 3: Not happy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we could, we could have actually start a recording
Speaker 2: a halftime.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we could have when we tried to do the
Speaker 3: responsible thing. It's funny though, one of my mentors, the
Speaker 3: great Tommy Bank from the La Times before that the
Speaker 3: Houston Post. He is actually basketball historians will remember that
Speaker 3: it was Tommy Bank in the Houston Post who christened
Speaker 3: the famed University of Houston team starring a Chem Olijuan
Speaker 3: and Clyde Drexler. He's the one who came up with
Speaker 3: five Slama jama and many years later, when we were
Speaker 3: both covering tennis, believe it or not, he taught me
Speaker 3: some famed sports writer psychology. If you can't play good,
Speaker 3: play fast to help the guys on deadline. And I
Speaker 3: think that's kind of what we got tonight. The second
Speaker 3: half just zoom by because it wasn't much of a contest.
Speaker 3: Third quarter, Warriors came out blew the thing open. So
Speaker 3: we got it's it's one one Lakers Warriors, it's one
Speaker 3: to one Nicks heat, it's one to one six or Celtics.
Speaker 3: The only two to zero is Denver going to Phoenix
Speaker 3: now with a two oh lead, and Phoenix no Chris
Speaker 3: Paul in Game three, probably not in game four or
Speaker 3: five either, So the Suns are in huge trouble. But
Speaker 3: I mean, how how big of a come doown was
Speaker 3: this for you? Game one you're working sideline, You're right
Speaker 3: in the heart of the action, the chaos, the energy
Speaker 3: that was oozing through the screen tonight, you weren't there.
Speaker 3: I guess actually worked out. You picked, you picked. It's
Speaker 3: a good thing that ESPN had this game, because I didn't.
Speaker 3: I didn't feel much energy and excitement, uh, you know,
Speaker 3: bouncing off the TV screen tonight.
Speaker 2: Stein. I was pumped up for game one, stein Stein,
Speaker 2: But twenty minutes before Tip, my body is just like
Speaker 2: I'm just lightweight shaking. I just had so much energy
Speaker 2: in me. Man, It's the Marquee matchup. It's what everybody
Speaker 2: wanted to see, man. And I was you know, I
Speaker 2: was blessed to be a part of it, you know,
Speaker 2: be a part of that broadcast. Man. So I just
Speaker 2: had so much energy, and I you know, I was prepared.
Speaker 2: It just it's felt good and the excitement, it was
Speaker 2: by far, probably the best atmosphere I've experienced in the
Speaker 2: and this year's playoffs that's far.
Speaker 3: So you can I mean, I think, like I said,
Speaker 3: even the people at home could feel it. There was
Speaker 3: there was so much anticipation for that game, and you
Speaker 3: know so much was made about it's Lebron versus staphf.
Speaker 3: But you know, a D outshine and everyone in game
Speaker 3: one and then tonight just such a passive performance from
Speaker 3: Ad that's gonna get everybody on his case again. Now,
Speaker 3: this is exactly the kind of game that that drives
Speaker 3: people nuts about a D when you know he was
Speaker 3: otherworldly with thirty twenty three what was it five blocks?
Speaker 3: Just I mean, he was the decisive factor in game
Speaker 3: one and tonight passive.
Speaker 2: I think you gotta Stine. I'm gonna tell you, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna tell you Stein. And I've noticed I noticed this
Speaker 2: my first year of covering the Warriors when I was
Speaker 2: at ESPN, so this would have been twenty sixteen, and
Speaker 2: this is the first time I noticed Draymond guards Anthony
Speaker 2: Davis really good. He's He's probably dray Mind is probably
Speaker 2: the toughest defender for a D. I don't know if
Speaker 2: Ad has ever said that or ever acknowledged that, but
Speaker 2: the years I've seen him, half a decade, seven years
Speaker 2: or whatever it's been, Dre has always played Ad tough,
Speaker 2: and you look at Ad not being aggressive today. I
Speaker 2: think that had a lot to do with Draymond. And
Speaker 2: I'm not saying Ad can't get his buckets, can't get
Speaker 2: his baskets, but Draymond is always being physical, always pushing
Speaker 2: them out of his comfort zone. You know you're going
Speaker 2: to get a bump with Draymond, and sometimes a lot
Speaker 2: of players like to avoid just being touched. And I
Speaker 2: would expect Ad to come out much better, much more
Speaker 2: sertive in Game three. But this matchup, that matchup has
Speaker 2: changed the complexion of this series. And it's not necessarily
Speaker 2: like I know, hey, Steve Kurbs catching strays, he was
Speaker 2: catching a lot of strays right before the game. When
Speaker 2: it was announced that Jamichael Green is stepping into the
Speaker 2: starting lineup in place of Kevon Looney, who's been getting
Speaker 2: twenty rebounds, it seems like for this whole month, but
Speaker 2: it worked out. Jamiael Green had a good game, But
Speaker 2: most importantly, Draymond was the primary defender on Anthony Day,
Speaker 2: and I think that had a lot to do with
Speaker 2: AD's performance a game too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're absolutely right. It's interesting. I was
Speaker 3: talking to I will call him a well placed observer
Speaker 3: like you, very familiar with the dynamics at play here
Speaker 3: when we're talking about Draymond Green historically against Anthony Davis,
Speaker 3: and the way it was described to me was, let
Speaker 3: me make sure I got this exactly right. Draymond has
Speaker 3: always taken that match up personally, and I think you
Speaker 3: could really see it in this game too. Warriors go
Speaker 3: ultra small, and Draymon had just a Draymond game, really
Speaker 3: impactful at the defensive end and at the offensive end,
Speaker 3: the playmaking. You know, again, I am old, And I
Speaker 3: don't know if you have you ever seen The Fish
Speaker 3: That Save Pittsburgh. Have you seen that movie?
Speaker 2: Never even heard of it?
Speaker 3: You have to find it, you have to watch it.
Speaker 3: Is it is. It is one of to me, the
Speaker 3: five best basketball movies ever. Now, there is a lot
Speaker 3: of nonsense in it, a lot of nonsense. You have
Speaker 3: to suspend some level of belief because it is nonsensical.
Speaker 3: But it came out in the late seventies starring Doctor
Speaker 3: j about a fictional NBA team in Pittsburgh that adopts
Speaker 3: a astrological strategy and only gets players under the sign
Speaker 3: of Pisces and they become this amazing team. But the
Speaker 3: reason it was so great this is the late seventies.
Speaker 3: There's not that much NBA on national TV. And I
Speaker 3: always say, if you like it came out when I
Speaker 3: was around ten at that time. The White Shadow, which
Speaker 3: to me is still probably the greatest television show ever,
Speaker 3: and then The Fish that Save Pittsburgh. Like that, those
Speaker 3: basketball shows were more accessible to me than being able
Speaker 3: to watch national games. Of course I was living in
Speaker 3: southern California at the time, so I could see the Lakers,
Speaker 3: but like watching The White Shadow every day, and then
Speaker 3: the Fish at Save Pittsburgh. Like Doctor J is the
Speaker 3: star of this movie. Incredible dunk the Dunk montage. Just
Speaker 3: look just look up on YouTube the Dunk montage of
Speaker 3: Doctor J and Fish at Save Pittsburgh in nineteen seventy nine.
Speaker 3: This was off the charts incredible.
Speaker 2: But the reason you're giving you're giving me two assignments.
Speaker 3: You've got no because you've got.
Speaker 2: To watch it, but you give me.
Speaker 3: To you haven't seen the White Shadow either.
Speaker 2: I haven't seen the White Shadow as well. I've never
Speaker 2: never heard of the White Shadow.
Speaker 3: O my Chris Haynes, this is like I'll do. This
Speaker 3: is a dagger Okay, The White Shadow is the greatest
Speaker 3: show in television history if you're a basketball fan. Ken Reeves,
Speaker 3: fictional former Chicago Bull goes to coach, suffers a career
Speaker 3: ending knee injury and goes to coach the legendary Well,
Speaker 3: it wasn't legendary until he got there. The Carver High
Speaker 3: basketball team in South central LA. Unbelievable. This show was
Speaker 3: ahead of its time. And like I'm telling you, as
Speaker 3: a basketball like at ten, this this was the basketball
Speaker 3: that I got to see more than NBA games. But
Speaker 3: the reason I got on this whole tangent was in this.
Speaker 3: In The Fish at Save Pittsburgh, Metal Arc Lemon, Globe
Speaker 3: Trotter's legend plays this playmaking center who was a reverend
Speaker 3: and just all and like when Draymond is like playing,
Speaker 3: he's playing small ball center and making all these plays.
Speaker 3: That's what it reminds me. But it reminds me of
Speaker 3: Meta Lark Lemon just just running the show offensively like
Speaker 3: he did in The Fish That Save Pittsburgh. We saw
Speaker 3: some of that out of Draymond too.
Speaker 2: Okay, Okay, look, look, please, hey people, please tweet. If
Speaker 2: you're on Twitter, you can send an email find us
Speaker 2: find our email address, or even on Instagram, send a
Speaker 2: comment remark, have y'all ever heard of these two movies? Please?
Speaker 2: He's called these movies the best basketball It's in my
Speaker 2: top five.
Speaker 3: Not Fish that Save Pittsburgh is not the best basketball
Speaker 3: movie of all time, but it's it's in my top five.
Speaker 3: And you know who agrees with me. At your next
Speaker 3: TNT staff meeting, do me a favor, or the next time,
Speaker 3: the next time you do a hit for Inside the NBA,
Speaker 3: holler at Shack and ask Shack. Hey, Shaq Stein keeps
Speaker 3: telling me about this movie, The Fish That Save Pittsburgh.
Speaker 3: Shaq will tell you that movie helped change his life.
Speaker 3: Because just just if you don't watch the movie, which
Speaker 3: is I understand you might not want to go back
Speaker 3: and watch a movie from nineteen seventy nine that, like
Speaker 3: I said, has a lot of it has a lot
Speaker 3: of it has a lot of stupid stuff in it too.
Speaker 3: But just go on YouTube and dial up the Doctor J.
Speaker 3: Dunk montage from The Fish That Save Pittsburgh and think
Speaker 3: about this isn't twenty twenty three, this is nineteen seventy nine,
Speaker 3: So this is like mind blowing stuff for a ten
Speaker 3: year old kid to watch Us and The White Shadow best.
Speaker 3: Maybe people are gonna argue with me about is it
Speaker 3: the best TV show of all time? Best TV show theme?
Speaker 3: I will put the opening music of The White Shadow
Speaker 3: up against any TV show ever. And yes, I want.
Speaker 3: I I look. I know our younger, our younger, our
Speaker 3: younger listeners are gonna think I have lost my mind.
Speaker 3: But there are gonna be some. There are gonna be
Speaker 3: some older listeners who are like, yeah, Stein, you are,
Speaker 3: tell Tell them about the White Shadow. Tell him about
Speaker 3: the fish that save Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: You know it's a movie called He Got Game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, Yes, I've heard chips. Yeah, Blue Love Blue
Speaker 3: Chips is in my top five too.
Speaker 2: Coach Carter.
Speaker 3: Coach Carter didn't make it. White white men, white men
Speaker 3: can't jump is number one. Here. Let me call up.
Speaker 3: I did this for the I'm gonna try to find
Speaker 3: it while we're looking. I did my top five for
Speaker 3: the New York Times about five years ago, and I'll
Speaker 3: find it.
Speaker 1: Well.
Speaker 3: Well, while we're talking about the reason I got on
Speaker 3: that whole tangent.
Speaker 2: But but you went all, yeah, I get, I get
Speaker 2: while you went on that tangent, you went all the
Speaker 2: way to the seventies because the seventies movie reminded you
Speaker 2: of Draymond Green Tramon's.
Speaker 3: Raymond's playmaking as a small Ball five was Meadow Lark
Speaker 3: Lemon esque.
Speaker 2: Oh boy, it was. I actually met Medal Lark a
Speaker 2: few years before. You know, man, pretty it was pretty
Speaker 2: soon after before he passed, came to Portland. He was
Speaker 2: doing it. He did a last stint with the Globetrotters.
Speaker 2: That was cool. That was cool. So that that that
Speaker 2: legend right there. I do know all these other individuals
Speaker 2: you mentioned mentioning I have to do, like.
Speaker 3: I said, just you know what, and like I said,
Speaker 3: you don't. You're a busy man. Maybe you don't have time.
Speaker 3: So if you don't have time to watch the whole movie,
Speaker 3: and if you don't have time to watch a bunch
Speaker 3: of one hour episodes, just go on YouTube and just
Speaker 3: watch the Doctor J. Dunk montage from the Fish at
Speaker 3: Save Pittsburgh and then just watch the intro to any
Speaker 3: episode of The White Shadow. And just if you just
Speaker 3: do that for me, like I will consider that a
Speaker 3: personal favor.
Speaker 2: So, Draymond Stein, I was at Game one. I had
Speaker 2: the assignment and it's it's it's interested in seeing the
Speaker 2: dynamic of Draymond and how he can go at officials
Speaker 2: and just how officials officiate or regulate after they've already
Speaker 2: given him a technical and he knows its poor Ed,
Speaker 2: but lord, poor Ed. Oh boy, I'm right there. Stean
Speaker 2: Ed gives him a tech and dray didn't stop. Matter
Speaker 2: of fact, it got worse, it got worse. So fans
Speaker 2: don't understand how like it got worse worse. I'm not
Speaker 2: gonna say this stuff. Dre was saying it got worse,
Speaker 2: and you know, and drey didn't get a second tech.
Speaker 2: But you know, you can just see the dynamic with
Speaker 2: the officials. How you know, Draymond's a big part of
Speaker 2: of what the Warriors do. And it's it's like that
Speaker 2: with a lot of players in the league that get
Speaker 2: you know, Luka Donkis gets a lot, picks up a
Speaker 2: lot of texts. I wouldn't put Dylan Brooks on their level,
Speaker 2: but Dylan Brooks gets a lot of texts. But how
Speaker 2: referees are quick to give that first tech and then
Speaker 2: the players know, the players know the official. The officials
Speaker 2: do not want to be the center of attention by
Speaker 2: ejecting someone who is very crucial to the team and
Speaker 2: to the to the outcome, potentially the outcome of that
Speaker 2: basketball game, and how much more leeway they give them
Speaker 2: after the first tech. It was, it was, it was amazing.
Speaker 2: It was amazing, which which leads me to believe, well,
Speaker 2: which leads me to saying I should say is I
Speaker 2: think there needs to be a lot more leeway in
Speaker 2: the first TECH for some people because I think, you know,
Speaker 2: but it depends, like you see officials giving players text
Speaker 2: for waving their arms, you know, or they'll make a gesture,
Speaker 2: not a not a finger gesture, make a gesture at
Speaker 2: the hand, like swiping down at the official after a
Speaker 2: call quick t But then right after that the talking
Speaker 2: gets worse, you know, it's get worse after that, and
Speaker 2: they don't get it, you know, they don't get a
Speaker 2: TECH because the rest are scared to call a TECH.
Speaker 2: So it was just, you know, I really enjoyed just
Speaker 2: seeing that dynamic and see how officials call things and
Speaker 2: how they don't call things after a TECH is already whistled.
Speaker 2: Well in interesting.
Speaker 3: I'm sure the Lakers are kind of gonna come away
Speaker 3: from this furious though, because they went to the line
Speaker 3: a ton in Game one. I think only four free
Speaker 3: throws in the first half Tonight doesn't excuse the second
Speaker 3: half performance. I mean that was just a second half borderline,
Speaker 3: no show. Third quarter Warriors just ran up the score
Speaker 3: on them. We don't normally talk about game two Clay,
Speaker 3: but he was tonight found the three ball. But I mean,
Speaker 3: Anthony Davis was so brilliant in Game one, didn't leave
Speaker 3: the floor in the second half. But that naturally led
Speaker 3: to the question, how much did that take out of him?
Speaker 3: I think the good you know, I guess good news
Speaker 3: is probably too strong. The silver lining here for the
Speaker 3: Lakers is, you know, they got blown out. They didn't
Speaker 3: really tax Lebron and Ad tonight. They're gonna have to
Speaker 3: bounce back with I mean those two. It always it
Speaker 3: obviously starts with those two stat I saw. The Lakers
Speaker 3: have actually won nine straight game threes out of a
Speaker 3: one to one tie. We'll see how much that actually
Speaker 3: means for this.
Speaker 2: You call this arrest. You call this arrest for the Lakers.
Speaker 3: I mean in the second in the fourth quarter, they
Speaker 3: sure did. I mean d Ham basically it was over,
Speaker 3: you know, to start the fourth he was he basically
Speaker 3: knew it was over.
Speaker 2: So I mean, that's.
Speaker 3: That's the only good news, because yeah, I mean drain,
Speaker 3: I mean, ad did not look good tonight. And you know,
Speaker 3: Draymond is going to take a lot of confidence out
Speaker 3: of this that he's that his tactics are already working.
Speaker 2: I mean, he's he's done it before, he's done it before.
Speaker 2: Didn't Draymond tell us on on on on our podcast
Speaker 2: when he came on probably about a month ago. Didn't
Speaker 2: he tell us he wasn't going to be potting during
Speaker 2: the playoffs?
Speaker 3: No, no, no, he said, he's not gonna be interviewing.
Speaker 3: So that's why, that's why he wasn't going to ask
Speaker 3: us on anytime soon, because you know, that was that
Speaker 3: was the trade. That was the I did not get
Speaker 3: any Executive of the Year votes this year. I got zero,
Speaker 3: but I think I should have because I think I
Speaker 3: made the best trade of the season when I said, Draymond, sure,
Speaker 3: come on our pod and then we'll drop on your
Speaker 3: pod whenever you want, and he said, let's wait till
Speaker 3: after the playoffs for your guys invite because after the
Speaker 3: play in the playoffs, he only does postgame soliloquies. He
Speaker 3: just gets on there and and and it's great. I mean,
Speaker 3: I love listening to him because he you know, I
Speaker 3: don't know how I don't know how the Warriors actually
Speaker 3: feel about it, but he breaks it down in his
Speaker 3: in his candid way.
Speaker 2: It's just a new day. It's a new day. You
Speaker 2: see the mixed reaction out there. There's a lot of
Speaker 2: people who like it, who like getting a basketball breakdown
Speaker 2: from somebody who's actually playing in that series the very
Speaker 2: next day or maybe the same night, and it just
Speaker 2: drops the next day. Then you have others who believe, hey,
Speaker 2: he should be locked in twenty four hours. You shouldn't
Speaker 2: be You shouldn't have time for this. It's just a
Speaker 2: new day at the end of the day, if he's
Speaker 2: still bringing it, and that's all that matters. And definitely
Speaker 2: he brought it for Game two.
Speaker 3: Now since as you know, I'm living vicariously through you
Speaker 3: here for you know where you know, I'm not going
Speaker 3: to any of these games. You're the You're you're repping
Speaker 3: the show on the road here. Are you sticking with
Speaker 3: this series or are you are you diverting elsewhere? What's
Speaker 3: what's your next what's your next TV gig?
Speaker 2: I'm sticking through this series through so game three is
Speaker 2: another ESPN game. Game three is Friday. I have Game
Speaker 2: four Monday, and I have Game five Wednesday next week.
Speaker 3: Those putting you on the spot, but you if if
Speaker 3: you wanted to.
Speaker 2: Call, but I am, but I will be. I will
Speaker 2: be at game three. But just just as a report, if.
Speaker 3: You want to decline to answer this, I totally get it,
Speaker 3: but I'm gonna ask it.
Speaker 2: I don't. I don't duck, no small shoot.
Speaker 3: So atmosphere wise to work the sideline, sit courtside. What
Speaker 3: do you like better? Chase Center or the place that
Speaker 3: I'm not ready to call its new name, Staples Center.
Speaker 2: I would say that's a good question. I'm not ducking
Speaker 2: like Stein. It's equal. Equal, It's equal.
Speaker 3: I would have thought it would have been a Staples layup.
Speaker 2: Well why just because the people?
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just look, I mean again, I'm letting
Speaker 3: my personal biases come in. My formative years were spent
Speaker 3: in southern California. I'm a former Lakers beat writer. There's
Speaker 3: just and I feel every time I go back, there
Speaker 3: is just something about being court side at a Laker game,
Speaker 3: like there is there is a court side energy because
Speaker 3: and you know, the people watching is a big part
Speaker 3: of it. But like I just feel it every time
Speaker 3: I come home, and you know, and I've never in
Speaker 3: I'm I'm just sitting in the you know, the press
Speaker 3: row seats. I mean you, you know as the TNT
Speaker 3: sideline guy, like you have the best press seat there is.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, I was looking at it from a different angle,
Speaker 2: all right. Question. I was looking at it like like
Speaker 2: which arena allows me to do my job? The belt,
Speaker 2: you know, listen walking around, you know, trying to listen
Speaker 2: to see what I can get from, you know, the
Speaker 2: timeout huddles. And I said, San Francisco and La are
Speaker 2: the same because I can walk there. There's an hourway.
Speaker 2: There's a pathway. I can walk to the Lakers side
Speaker 2: and walk straight to the to the opposite side, to
Speaker 2: the Warriors side, the Kings. You haven't you haven't been
Speaker 2: to god, Okay, there is not a pathway, so I
Speaker 2: have to It's a weird setup. So I sit at
Speaker 2: the scorers table. But in order to get to the
Speaker 2: Warriors side, I have to walk up some stairs that's
Speaker 2: behind me. There's about six steps, walk up some stairs
Speaker 2: that are behind me, and I walk towards the Warriors side.
Speaker 2: And then but I have to pass the Warriors bench.
Speaker 2: So I passed the Warriors bench about twenty feet past them,
Speaker 2: walk down, then go to the Warriors. Then I can
Speaker 2: get to the Warriors bench the same. It's the same path.
Speaker 2: If I want to go to the Kings, go right
Speaker 2: back up these stairs, go towards the King's bench, past
Speaker 2: the King's bench about twenty feet, go down the steps,
Speaker 2: then get over to the Kings. So there's not a
Speaker 2: there's not a one path hour way from each bench.
Speaker 2: And so those are and so that's what I don't
Speaker 2: you know, that makes it tough, so really so basically
Speaker 2: like for a Kings game or any other arena that
Speaker 2: stuff like that, if I have to go to a
Speaker 2: if there's a timeout, I have to pick one of
Speaker 2: the teams that I'm gonna go. Just like listen in.
Speaker 3: All right, you can't just move, you can't just maneuver
Speaker 3: quickly between them.
Speaker 2: They just maneuver.
Speaker 3: But you know, when I the years I did ESPN
Speaker 3: Iseline Radio, that's what I felt about Cleveland. Cleveland, we
Speaker 3: set first of all the you know, and this is
Speaker 3: just extreme whining like that, you know, should never be
Speaker 3: done by by a person in our position, but I'm
Speaker 3: gonna do it anyway. In Cleveland, we even for the
Speaker 3: sideline reporter. The seat was way off the court and
Speaker 3: it was not It was just not an eat. Like
Speaker 3: to get to the Cavs bench from where you were
Speaker 3: sitting was not was not easy. So I never liked
Speaker 3: doing games in Cleveland. But again, now just letting all
Speaker 3: my selfish, my selfishness and personal biases in. I loved
Speaker 3: Oakland too. I just I loved Oakland so much. And
Speaker 3: though you know, my last three years at ESPN I
Speaker 3: basically lived with the Warriors, I spent so much time
Speaker 3: in Oakland, and I just had I have so many
Speaker 3: fond memories of the Oracle days. And I've only been
Speaker 3: to Chase Center a couple of times, but and it
Speaker 3: just I just do not have the same vibe and
Speaker 3: feeling there.
Speaker 1: I just don't.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately, we have to segue to from the playoffs to
Speaker 3: less pleasant news. Thunderbolt earlier Thursday in the coaching world,
Speaker 3: expected to some degree, but still a thunderbolt because this
Speaker 3: man won a championship in Milwaukee. Mike buden Holzer out
Speaker 3: of a job. The Bucks announced Thursday that they are
Speaker 3: making the coaching change that many have expected since Milwaukee's
Speaker 3: stunning first round elimination, losing in five to the eighth
Speaker 3: seeded Miami Heat. I don't think there was any way
Speaker 3: the Bucks weren't gonna end up going down this road, because, look,
Speaker 3: there's a new collective bargaining agreement coming into the league.
Speaker 3: We've been talking about this a lot. All these teams
Speaker 3: that have multiple stars, it's gonna be really hard in
Speaker 3: the new NBA to add to your team if you've
Speaker 3: got high salary players, and the Bucks have three of them.
Speaker 3: The Bucks obviously revolve around Giannis, but they still have
Speaker 3: Drew Holliday. Chris Middleton has a forty million dollar player
Speaker 3: option that even if he declines, he's gonna want a
Speaker 3: long term lucrat deal to stay. Brook Lopez is up
Speaker 3: for a new deal. It's going to be really hard
Speaker 3: for the Bucks to dramatically change their Team's going to
Speaker 3: be challenging for the Bucks just to keep what they have,
Speaker 3: So the only way for them to make a drastic change,
Speaker 3: the only sure way for them to make a drastic
Speaker 3: change is to make a coaching change, and that's what
Speaker 3: we're seeing here. Mike Budenholzer there for five years, and
Speaker 3: to me, it's not dissimilar to what we saw in
Speaker 3: Toronto that Nick Nurse. For as good of a coach
Speaker 3: as he is, there's been rumblings for a while now
Speaker 3: about discontent and clearly the Raptors want a new voice,
Speaker 3: and I think the Bucks players, I don't know if
Speaker 3: they'll ever put it like this publicly, but I think
Speaker 3: within that locker room they wanted a new voice also,
Speaker 3: and so the Bucks are going that route to find
Speaker 3: that new voice because again, it is the easiest way
Speaker 3: to dramatically change this team before next season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's not surprising, you know, it was. It
Speaker 2: was kind of a red flag thrown up when when
Speaker 2: it was announced that the Bucks were not going to
Speaker 2: have whole exit and reviews. Some teams do that anyways,
Speaker 2: but that that was kind of a sign right there, Okay,
Speaker 2: there's gonna be a change pretty soon, Like that's what's
Speaker 2: going to happen. So you know, it's not surprising. I mean, again,
Speaker 2: Boot and Holzers knock and there's this was a knock
Speaker 2: that's been in place since his days with the Atlanta Hawks.
Speaker 2: In game adjustments has always been a knock of a
Speaker 2: knock of his and he's a phenomenal coach, still one
Speaker 2: of the best coaches we have in the association. Good guy.
Speaker 2: My prayers go out to him and the family. You know,
Speaker 2: they they lost the brother doing He lost his brother
Speaker 2: during that that first round series with the heat, So
Speaker 2: he was going through a lot. But there were a
Speaker 2: few times during his tenure in Milwaukee where he was
Speaker 2: close to getting let go. It took that finals run
Speaker 2: them getting that championship that gave him some a little
Speaker 2: bit more staying power. But when you have Giannis ante
Speaker 2: Compo with the new CBA coming on them, that's going
Speaker 2: to be that's going to be a little bit more tight,
Speaker 2: won't have that much flexibility to to produce these rosters
Speaker 2: that a lot of teams call super teams. Mawukee is
Speaker 2: trying to do everything they can to maximize Gianni's prime
Speaker 2: and they feel like this was decision that had to
Speaker 2: be made. Now the next decision is who do you
Speaker 2: get to replace them? Who out there that you consider
Speaker 2: an upgrade? Automatically some names that will pop up, Nick
Speaker 2: Nurse for sure, Frank Vogel out there, are they upgrades?
Speaker 2: I don't know? Stein. I saw a stat out there
Speaker 2: that the last four three of the last four coaches
Speaker 2: to win a championship have been let go.
Speaker 3: It actually goes actually goes back farther since goes back
Speaker 3: since twenty fifteen, since the Warriors first of four championships,
Speaker 3: the only coach still in his job is Steve Kerr
Speaker 3: still in that job. Tylu obviously won the title in
Speaker 3: twenty sixteen. He coaches the Clippers now, but he was
Speaker 3: ultimately let go in Cleveland. And now Nick Nurse, the
Speaker 3: twenty nineteen champion, Frank Vogel the twenty twenty champion, and
Speaker 3: Mike Budenholzer the twenty twenty one champion, all without the
Speaker 3: jobs that helped them get those rings. And it just
Speaker 3: kind of shows you the pressure that these teams are under.
Speaker 3: You know, I texted you this earlier Thursday, because it's true.
Speaker 3: Like my new favorite NBA list is your guy Dame Lillard.
Speaker 2: Like he is.
Speaker 3: He is, like he's commenting. You know, obviously his season
Speaker 3: ended way earlier than he wanted, but like what it
Speaker 3: means for us is he's constantly commenting on NBA developments
Speaker 3: And so I'm trying to dial up this tweet here
Speaker 3: and find it so uh, you know, the news comes
Speaker 3: out that the that the Bucks have fired Budenholzer, and again,
Speaker 3: like you said it, it's not a surprise, but it's
Speaker 3: still you know, it still jolts you because again, the
Speaker 3: guy won a championship two years ago, not that long ago.
Speaker 3: And Dame's tweet. Folks out here firing championship coaches as
Speaker 3: soon as they don't win the chip. And that's like,
Speaker 3: there are so many teams in the league that just
Speaker 3: feel all in, you know, the all in brigade. And
Speaker 3: that's why this summer, I think the combination of how
Speaker 3: many teams are meeting with disappointment, and you'd have to
Speaker 3: throw the Blazers in there, and the Mavericks in there,
Speaker 3: and the Grizzlies in there with the Bucks and the
Speaker 3: Wizard didn't even make the playing round and Toronto huge disappointment,
Speaker 3: the Bulls disappointment. I mean, there are so many teams
Speaker 3: Minnesota that like fell so much farther short of expectations
Speaker 3: than they envision. There's gonna be changed, there's gonna be
Speaker 3: trades as teams try to address that disappointment and also
Speaker 3: try to cope with this new collective bargaining agreement. That's
Speaker 3: gonna it's just gonna If you've got two stars, okay,
Speaker 3: you can build around them. If you've got three stars,
Speaker 3: it's gonna be really tough. And and you know, it's
Speaker 3: gonna keep even more pressure on coaches. You know, we've
Speaker 3: always said in the NBA and every sport that the
Speaker 3: coach is the easiest thing to change. But I fear
Speaker 3: for coaches that it's gonna be even more so that
Speaker 3: that statement will ring more true or truer, depending on
Speaker 3: what you grammarians prefer. I prefer more true than truer
Speaker 3: for what it's worth. Uh, I think it's I think
Speaker 3: it's gonna become a bigger thing for coaches to cope
Speaker 3: with it. Like you again, it's this is the this
Speaker 3: is the easiest move for the Bucks to make. But
Speaker 3: like you said, it like where they go. I mean,
Speaker 3: if you're going to replace Mike Budenholzer, it really comes
Speaker 3: down to one of two paths. For me, do you
Speaker 3: do you bring in a Nick Nurse or a Frank Vogel,
Speaker 3: the two clear cut proven championship coaches out there, or
Speaker 3: Charles Lee, who's been a candidate for so many jobs
Speaker 3: here in recent years Bucks assistant. He's a finalist right
Speaker 3: now for Detroit. On Thursday night, I reported that he
Speaker 3: was just with the Raptors interviewing for the Raptors vacancy.
Speaker 3: You know, Charles Lee has been one of the most
Speaker 3: in demand assistants. Do you just give the job to
Speaker 3: him and give him a chance to coach this team?
Speaker 2: I would like to see that. I would like to
Speaker 2: see that. I'm not discounting that at all. Do you
Speaker 2: just have to for all the knocks on Bootonholzer, all
Speaker 2: the negative negatives, he was a phenomenal coach, and he
Speaker 2: is a phenomenal coach, I should say, but you have
Speaker 2: to produce an upgrade. And if that upgrade you believe
Speaker 2: is lead And they would know more than we would
Speaker 2: anybody exactly. They're around him. They know how he they
Speaker 2: know how he prepares, they know how he's able to communicate.
Speaker 2: That's them. But they got to get it right. They
Speaker 2: gotta get it Like, if you're going to make this movie,
Speaker 2: you already should have somebody in mind, or have a
Speaker 2: few individuals in mind that you feel like are for
Speaker 2: sure upgrades. And John Horse over there, I know him well.
Speaker 2: The general manager over there with the Bucks. It's a
Speaker 2: smart dude. Obviously. This is again Stan, we know this
Speaker 2: is something that they've been contemplating doing over the last
Speaker 2: four years. It was like we hear it might go down,
Speaker 2: then the Buck's going to run with the top, you know.
Speaker 2: So this is not something that you know, just happened,
Speaker 2: you know, out the whim. So know, we'll see how
Speaker 2: this plays out.
Speaker 3: And look, I think you nailed it when you said,
Speaker 3: you know, the season ended. No, no Bucks players made available. No,
Speaker 3: we have not yet heard from John Horst as a
Speaker 3: you know, GM giving his end of the season wrap up.
Speaker 3: And just like in Toronto, Mesaiyu Jerry didn't do his
Speaker 3: end of the season press conference until Nick Nurse's fate
Speaker 3: was decided, and the Bucks held off in a similar way.
Speaker 3: And now they've made the move and now you know, Detroit,
Speaker 3: Charles Lee, Jaren Collins, the New Orleans Pelicans assistant, Kevin Ali,
Speaker 3: the former Yukon coach, those three have consistently been named,
Speaker 3: you know, mentioned and circulated as the finalists for the
Speaker 3: Detroit opening. In Toronto, they're just getting their search started
Speaker 3: and the Raptors have said they want to take a
Speaker 3: long you know, a longer term approached trying to find
Speaker 3: the Nick Nurse replacement. Now, will Budenholzer become a candidate
Speaker 3: for the Raptors. Budenholzer was very much a candidate when
Speaker 3: they decided to hire Nick to replace Dwayne Casey. And
Speaker 3: then you know, the Bucks with the third opening, what
Speaker 3: will they do? Do they go? You know, with so
Speaker 3: much riding on the future again, you know, we said it,
Speaker 3: Chris Middleton player option, heading for free agency, Brook Lopez
Speaker 3: heading for free agency, Yannis and Tetokumpo extension eligible in
Speaker 3: the fall. Gonna be really tough for the Bucks to
Speaker 3: make any kind of meaningful upgrades around the edges if
Speaker 3: they keep if they re sign Middleton and Brook, I
Speaker 3: mean goodbye flexibility most likely. So can you really hand
Speaker 3: the team over to a first year coach after what
Speaker 3: just happened to them? That's the decision. The Bucks are
Speaker 3: going to have to figure out. If they love Charles
Speaker 3: Lee and they think he's the guy, then do it,
Speaker 3: be bold, go for it. And we're going to see
Speaker 3: if they believe in the guy who's there, or if
Speaker 3: they're going to say, we've got to replace experience with experience.
Speaker 3: And that's really the question, All right, everyone that does
Speaker 3: it for another edition of this league, uncut, huge weekend ahead.
Speaker 3: Will Jimmy Butler be back for the Miami Heat in
Speaker 3: Game three as Nix Heat shifts to South Beach? As
Speaker 3: we said, Denver the only two to zero lead. No
Speaker 3: Chris Paul in Game three, probably not in Game four either,
Speaker 3: So the Suns in a really tough spot, a lot
Speaker 3: riding on. Can Cameron Payne step in for Chris Paul
Speaker 3: and they don't have really anything behind Cameron Payne. Now
Speaker 3: at the point, can the Suns dig themselves out of
Speaker 3: this two hole? Warriors Lakers shifts to LA Sixers. Boston
Speaker 3: man Joel Embiid is back game two. All he really
Speaker 3: got was a chance to get back on the court
Speaker 3: and try to get some level of rhythm because that
Speaker 3: second half no show from the Sixers. But you know
Speaker 3: that series, I mean, I think you know the winner
Speaker 3: of that series is supposed to be the favorite to
Speaker 3: win it all from here, So still tons riding on
Speaker 3: all these games. We will be back with you in
Speaker 3: just a couple of days to make sense of where
Speaker 3: we are. Chris Haynes enjoy that Staples.
Speaker 2: Hold on Stein, I have I have announcemental. No announcement, Okay,
Speaker 2: I have announcement real quick. So I'm sorry listeners to
Speaker 2: inform you that I have to continue my streak of
Speaker 2: admitting a story that I said through this podcast producer
Speaker 2: Ryan Doctor Ryan, We're going to have to delete my story.
Speaker 2: I gave it to about twenty nineteen. Wife said leave
Speaker 2: it alone, and.
Speaker 3: And well, well, wife says, goes. I need to have
Speaker 3: like I need to have.
Speaker 2: One day, one day I'm gonna be able to say
Speaker 2: my story and let it go, let it just hit
Speaker 2: and live with the consequences.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 3: I mean, I need to have like a little button
Speaker 3: that I can press to like alert her. We're heading
Speaker 3: into some dangerous territory here. I need some help.
Speaker 2: We go. We gotta we gonna call it a day.
Speaker 2: We gotta come up with a day one day, our listens,
Speaker 2: I'll promise you I'll be able to get a story
Speaker 2: out and you'll be able to hear it. I'll promise you,
Speaker 2: just not today.
Speaker 3: You are something else, one of a kind. Chris Hanes America.
Speaker 3: All right, that really does it now for this edition
Speaker 3: of I guess we have to call it this league
Speaker 3: with a very rare small unavoidable Cut. We'll be back
Speaker 3: soon with the fully unbridled This League Uncut just a
Speaker 3: couple of days, just wait for us. We'll be back
Speaker 3: with more soon.
Speaker 1: And that'll do it for us. See you next time.
Speaker 1: This League Uncut is an iHeartRadio production Chris Haynes and
Speaker 1: Mark Stein.