Speaker 1: Welcome In What's Driving the Great Episode three oh three,
Speaker 1: we are officially to basketball season. NFL Franchise Tag Day
Speaker 1: is today, which means the NFL offseason has begun. In earnest.
Speaker 1: The All Star Game was this weekend. I'm the only
Speaker 1: person in the world, evidently who enjoyed it. Or maybe
Speaker 1: I'm the only person in the world who just doesn't
Speaker 1: know how to consume anything without just bitching and moaning
Speaker 1: about it from start to finish these days, I don't know.
Speaker 1: So we'll get to all of that before we do
Speaker 1: any of that. Demon's good to see you. You look
Speaker 1: out just resplendent today. I mean, what is the weather
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles? Must be glorious.
Speaker 2: It is feeling great.
Speaker 1: It is freezing in New York City, and you're wearing
Speaker 1: damn near a Hawaiian shirt. Speaking of Hawaii, first things
Speaker 1: First is off next week. I won't be going to Hawaii.
Speaker 1: I'll actually be going further than Hawaiian. Wilde's is off
Speaker 1: this week. Listen. Kate w is one of the hardest
Speaker 1: working people in media and never takes time off this
Speaker 1: but this was the week he needed off. So he's
Speaker 1: off this week. Then we're off as a show next week.
Speaker 1: And so yesterday, before we get to the Lebron stuff
Speaker 1: in the ulsterreehum stuff, just quick story. Yesterday Lowayne filled in,
Speaker 1: and he didn't fill in as a guest. He sat
Speaker 1: in wild seat. He did the intros and outros, he
Speaker 1: did weird and wonderful, and people wondered how did that happen?
Speaker 1: So I'm going to tell you guys exactly how that happened.
Speaker 1: So Monday, a week ago, during the Me Eating Crow show,
Speaker 1: Wayne texted, Brah, I'm crying laughing in this blank a
Speaker 1: lot of laughing emojis. That was too funny. Whole sec
Speaker 1: me because I am if I have one religion, it
Speaker 1: is an undying belief in being a terrible text replier.
Speaker 1: I did not reply to that. Low Wayne live texted
Speaker 1: me during the show, but I was kind of in
Speaker 1: a text blockout from super Bowl until Wednesday afternoon. So
Speaker 1: Wednesday evening I finally go back and I'm like, all right,
Speaker 1: I have five hundred unreplied texts. I probably should reply
Speaker 1: to some of them. And I'm like, oh my god,
Speaker 1: Lowayne texted so I again. Because I'm not very good
Speaker 1: at text etiquette. And even though this is you know,
Speaker 1: one of the greatest musicians in the history of the
Speaker 1: country who took his time out of his day to
Speaker 1: watch my TV show and then give a live reaction
Speaker 1: to it. My reply was, I just gave it the
Speaker 1: little heart. I just clicked it and gave it the
Speaker 1: heart Wednesday night. And so he then text me immediately
Speaker 1: flying out there tomorrow to do SNL fifty. Let's get together.
Speaker 1: He always says, smoke something, even though I don't smoke,
Speaker 1: but it's just I just feel like he feels like,
Speaker 1: this is, you know, the nice offer to make, and
Speaker 1: he said I exactly. His version of it said, I'm
Speaker 1: there till the eighteenth, so if you want me on
Speaker 1: the show, I can do it, and I want to
Speaker 1: come by Wifey's store. I'm like, this is just the
Speaker 1: nicest person who's ever lived. So I text him short
Speaker 1: version is this Wild's out next week. Here's a funny
Speaker 1: option if you're into it. You pick a day and
Speaker 1: sit in and fill in for Wild host the entire show,
Speaker 1: do weird and wonderful the whole thing. He snap text back, done,
Speaker 1: I just got to my room. Hit my guy Fabian.
Speaker 1: We'll set it all up that afternoon. He's the greatest
Speaker 1: person ever. That afternoon, at the end of the three
Speaker 1: o'clock hour, this is now Thursday, we run a promo
Speaker 1: on the show that Wayne is filling in for Wilds.
Speaker 1: He is watching the show, evidently, because he texts one
Speaker 1: minute after the promo, you're way too kind. I can't
Speaker 1: bleep and wait, I'm gonna knock it out of the stadium.
Speaker 1: Tell Cadob, I respect the person whose seat will be
Speaker 1: filling too much to do anything less than kill it.
Speaker 1: I got us and tell him I said, all caps,
Speaker 1: thank you. So I read that text to Wilds, and
Speaker 1: Wilds just said totally matter of factly, he has this
Speaker 1: relationship totally backwards. You get that right. I'm like, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: I do like this idea that he is thanking us, Like,
Speaker 1: don't worry all, take it seriously. I'm like, bro, twelve
Speaker 1: hours before the show, you're performing in front of Paul
Speaker 1: McCartney and Tom Hanks at SNL fifty and then you're
Speaker 1: coming and doing all Star Clung highlights, weird, doing wild,
Speaker 1: weird and wonderful. So that's how that happened. He's just
Speaker 1: the greatest guy in the world. So that was a
Speaker 1: ton of fun, and if you guys haven't watched SNL fifty,
Speaker 1: it's totally worth your time. His medley is great, and
Speaker 1: Adam Sandler's five and a half minute guitar rendition a
Speaker 1: tribute to the fifty years of the show is spectacular.
Speaker 1: So I'm biased, Like my two favorite parts were Wayne's
Speaker 1: part and then the Sandler thing, but the whole thing
Speaker 1: was great. All right, let's get to the show. Here's
Speaker 1: what miss the cut demonte Kansas City allegedly gives Travis
Speaker 1: Kelcey a deadline. I would call that a soft deadline
Speaker 1: of mid March. Mac McClung, I mean, I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: this with confidence and certainty, the greatest white dude dunker
Speaker 1: of all time, and I don't know that anyone's ever
Speaker 1: gonna break that mark. I still think Vince is the
Speaker 1: greatest dunker ever. And Aaron Gordon and Zach Levine put
Speaker 1: on a hell of a show. But Mac McClung is unbelievable,
Speaker 1: and Wimby and CP three break the skills contest in
Speaker 1: a really the most embarrassing thing that happened this weekend
Speaker 1: that deserved criticism was Wimby and Chris Paul trying to
Speaker 1: rig the skills competition. But of course that is not
Speaker 1: the thing that got the most criticism this weekend. Instead,
Speaker 1: it was the reverse engineered What did Lebron James do?
Speaker 1: Therefore it must be wrong. Let's start right there before
Speaker 1: we get to the game. And I think this is
Speaker 1: one demons. This is gonna be one of the things
Speaker 1: that I think demands as we start the topic, disagrees
Speaker 1: with me, and by the end of the topic I
Speaker 1: might have swayed him a bit. But we'll see.
Speaker 2: Let's go out, all right, we'll see first and Forebo's
Speaker 2: happy belated President's Day. It's all you guys out there.
Speaker 2: But just hours, just hours before the game, Lebron decided
Speaker 2: that he was he was hurt. I don't want to
Speaker 2: say he decided, but he was. He was injured. He
Speaker 2: wasn't gonna play in the All Star Game, and this
Speaker 2: led to fans saying, oh, you took a roster spot.
Speaker 2: He also took a picture and did not suit up
Speaker 2: as the regular as the rest of the team didn't
Speaker 2: wore a street clothes. What's your take on this? People
Speaker 2: are pissed about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, everyone's lost their mind. So let's just start here
Speaker 1: who knew? So many people gave two shits about Norman
Speaker 1: Powell making the All Star Game, and the answer is
Speaker 1: they didn't. The the idea the amount of people that
Speaker 1: were tweeting about Norman Powell because if Lebron had bowed
Speaker 1: out a week early, Powell would have gotten the spot.
Speaker 1: Though the vin diagram of people who two weeks ago
Speaker 1: demonse were like these Pro Bowl alternates. It's such a joke.
Speaker 1: Drake May gets to call himself a pro bowler when
Speaker 1: he didn't actually make the team and then tweeting this week,
Speaker 1: why aren't people thinking about Norman Powell. The fans in
Speaker 1: San Francisco definitely wanted to see him play. It's disingenuous nonsense,
Speaker 1: and the idea that there was any way for Lebron
Speaker 1: to thread this needle and not end up being criticized
Speaker 1: is just disingenuous and not true. So if he would
Speaker 1: have a week ago said I'm not playing, the media
Speaker 1: cycle would have been this is why nobody takes the
Speaker 1: All Star Game seriously. This is you know, people are
Speaker 1: excited and the face of the league doesn't do it.
Speaker 1: Lebron gave it to the last possible minute to figure
Speaker 1: out can I play? And it's not so much can
Speaker 1: I as much as it is should I, Like if
Speaker 1: it were a playoff game, would Lebron have played? Of course?
Speaker 1: Does that mean that when he clearly believes this Lakers
Speaker 1: team has a real chance to do something and this
Speaker 1: Lakers team, because of the California Wildfires, has the shortest
Speaker 1: break of any team with them and the Hornets because
Speaker 1: they play Wednesday and the rest of the league plays Thursday,
Speaker 1: that he was like, you know what, not going to
Speaker 1: push it on this ankle? That makes total sense to me?
Speaker 1: And then number of people who failed to acknowledge the
Speaker 1: following truths. Okay, first of all, is this Has anyone
Speaker 1: given more time, effort, sweat energy to All Star Games
Speaker 1: in the history of basketball than Lebron James? The answer is,
Speaker 1: of course no. He's played in twenty of them. Kareem
Speaker 1: played in eighteen, the next closest or Kobe and Duncan
Speaker 1: at fifteen. Has Lebron consistently shown up to this event
Speaker 1: more than any player in the history of the league. Yes,
Speaker 1: by a massive margin. This broke his streak. And but
Speaker 1: the other reason that people are just so out of
Speaker 1: their damn minds about This is one criticism of Lebron
Speaker 1: that I don't even look at as a criticism but
Speaker 1: is true. Is the guy cares about streaks and records
Speaker 1: and accolades. He does, and he would have liked to
Speaker 1: keep this thing going twenty one straight All Star appearances
Speaker 1: because the record prior to Lebron playing in twenty in
Speaker 1: a row again, twenty in a row was held by
Speaker 1: John Havlicek and Bob Coosey, who both played in thirteen
Speaker 1: in a row. That was the record. So Lebron set
Speaker 1: the record for consecutive All Star Game appearances back let
Speaker 1: me do them before he was a Laker, when he
Speaker 1: was with the Calves, midway through his second sit with
Speaker 1: the Calves and has just been spreading it out. Of
Speaker 1: all the active players other than Lebron, Durant is the
Speaker 1: only one who has played in ten of these in
Speaker 1: a row. He did that pre Achilles. The new active
Speaker 1: streak for consecutive All Star Games played is Joker at seven.
Speaker 1: So this is the guy that we're gonna say, oh
Speaker 1: it to everyone to play to play, the guy who's
Speaker 1: played in twenty straight of these, the oldest player in
Speaker 1: the league, a guy who has literally played more professional
Speaker 1: basketball than any human being ever to live. Were like,
Speaker 1: give us more, and if you don't, you're selfish. It's
Speaker 1: just so ludicrous. And then there's this piece of it
Speaker 1: and I'll get to the picture stuff later. There is
Speaker 1: so Nick Fredell, who I really like. I really like him.
Speaker 1: He was with ESPN. I think I don't want to
Speaker 1: speak for him, but the way I understand it, I
Speaker 1: think he was absolutely foolishly a part of their layoffs
Speaker 1: months back. He is a great NBA reporter opinionist. Chicago
Speaker 1: guy love Nick Nick quote tweeted it and said, there
Speaker 1: is just absolutely no way mj would do this. He
Speaker 1: always understood what his presence to the game meant. Guys,
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan at this point in his career had quit
Speaker 1: the game three times. It meant to his presence to
Speaker 1: the game meant so much that he quit the game.
Speaker 1: He went and played minor league baseball, then he came back,
Speaker 1: then he quit again, Then he came back, then he
Speaker 1: quit again. Do you know the most consecutive years that
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan played in an All Star Game? Seven seven years,
Speaker 1: the longest streak of consecutive All Star appearances. Michael Jordan
Speaker 1: had was seven. Well, there's no way MJ would do.
Speaker 1: So this is where the criticism. People just lose their minds.
Speaker 1: So if Lebron had just retired four years ago, no problem,
Speaker 1: no problem, you win your championship with the Lakers. You've
Speaker 1: played at that point eighteen years. You know what, You've
Speaker 1: given a lot to the league. But because he keeps playing,
Speaker 1: because he's good enough to be a deserving, top tier
Speaker 1: All Star, he then to these and I'm gonna talk
Speaker 1: about Nick here, talking about the folks at large, folks
Speaker 1: that have just become entitled that no, you owe us this.
Speaker 1: He he's not allowed to be cautious with an ankle injury. Uh, Nick,
Speaker 1: where did this injury come from? From Solomon Hill three
Speaker 1: and a half years ago, the only real injury he's
Speaker 1: ever suffered his entire career. That ankle and foot have
Speaker 1: been messed up since then, He's and if you're if
Speaker 1: you watch the Lakers, Lebron all the time pops up
Speaker 1: on a morning of injury report because the ankle tightened
Speaker 1: up on it. And do I imagine that in the
Speaker 1: days leading up to the All Star Game he actually
Speaker 1: took some time, maybe didn't do his regular every day
Speaker 1: cryogenic chamber treatment that he would do if they had
Speaker 1: actual games coming up, so it was more likely to
Speaker 1: tighten up. Of course, of course, that this being such
Speaker 1: a universally criticized thing that even Shannon and Kendrick and
Speaker 1: guys who are normally you know, on Lebron's side, on
Speaker 1: Stuffer's like, ah, this was this is a bridge too
Speaker 1: far from me? What are we talking about me?
Speaker 2: And I've seen fans go as far as say, is
Speaker 2: like Lebron's ruined the game.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, well that's the other piece of it. The
Speaker 1: other piece of it is the fall of the All
Speaker 1: Star Game is late at the feet of Lebron James.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just again, the All Star Game in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty was awesome. The All Star Game in twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two was awesome. And this is just it is
Speaker 1: just an entitlement from fans and media that a guy.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine any of these conversations existing around Tom Brady? Honestly?
Speaker 1: Could you that if Tom Brady is second to last
Speaker 1: year with Tampa was like guys, which he did do.
Speaker 1: By the way, I know, I was named a pro bowler.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna play and it's not because I'm hurt,
Speaker 1: it's just because not interested. It's exactly what happened. Was
Speaker 1: there a could you imagine how stupid folks would look
Speaker 1: if they went on TV and they were like, Tom Brady,
Speaker 1: this is why it's a flag football game. Now see
Speaker 1: this guy. Hey, look at the direct line of the
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl's popularity with when Tom entered the league and
Speaker 1: where it is now. Blood's on his hands. And then
Speaker 1: we get to the photo stuff. Guys, there's like, this
Speaker 1: is all documented. Injured players still are in the photo. Oh,
Speaker 1: they don't have to be at the middle. You guys,
Speaker 1: go look at the picture of Yao when he was hurt,
Speaker 1: and obviously the middle of that picture has to be Lebron, Steph,
Speaker 1: KD just has to be. Those are the guys you
Speaker 1: and people are like, oh, they'd haven't a criticism if
Speaker 1: often what'd you say, demonse? First of all, First of all,
Speaker 1: the injured players. When Kobe was injured, he didn't suit up.
Speaker 1: When other guys were injured, they don't suit up. But
Speaker 1: everyone is lying if they are acting like if Lebron
Speaker 1: had suited up for the picture, there wouldn't be this
Speaker 1: exact criticism. It would just be the exact opposite this.
Speaker 2: Why why was he suited up?
Speaker 1: Whow he wants people to think he played? It's guy's
Speaker 1: ankles so hurt, you don't think again, None of this
Speaker 1: shit is logical. It's just it's Lebron. I'm going to
Speaker 1: attack it. If he'd just suited up, he'd have gotten
Speaker 1: roasted for it. Jan has suited up and again Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards who in the meantime he didn't play either. He
Speaker 1: gave less notice than Lebron. We found out during the game.
Speaker 1: Anybody crying for Norman Powell with Anthony Edwards? No, Anthony
Speaker 1: Edwards allowed to be injured? Why why is he? He's
Speaker 1: because he's twenty three of the of his powers, young athletic. No,
Speaker 1: it's so dumb. This whole thing is so stupid, and
Speaker 1: it is. I don't understand how people call this selfish.
Speaker 1: I don't get that.
Speaker 2: I know dude doesn't really have to be playing right now.
Speaker 2: It is crazy to do for him to get criticized
Speaker 2: on anything that he doesn't do, because any extra time.
Speaker 2: At this point, he's in.
Speaker 1: Year twenty two. He has now played more minutes in
Speaker 1: years twenty one and twenty two than every other player
Speaker 1: in the history of the league who made it to
Speaker 1: year twenty one and twenty two combined. So let me
Speaker 1: say that again, as of two years ago. If you said,
Speaker 1: give me all of the minutes, all of the points,
Speaker 1: all of the assists from every player ever in year
Speaker 1: twenty one and twenty two and put it in a bucket,
Speaker 1: that bucket is now doubled just from what Lebron's done
Speaker 1: the last two years. And for it's just folks say, oh,
Speaker 1: he's the face of load management. The guy is going
Speaker 1: to play more games in more minutes than any player
Speaker 1: in the history of the league. And he's the face
Speaker 1: of not playing. I mean, give me a fucking break.
Speaker 1: This suffs. People are out of their mind. And I again,
Speaker 1: I mean Kendrick saying put your damn uniform on. He
Speaker 1: messed up the whole picture. Again, Where was this for
Speaker 1: Kobe or for yow sees.
Speaker 2: His greatness At the end of the day, though, is
Speaker 2: really what it is? I feel, what do you mean
Speaker 2: people want to see him play? People are our age.
Speaker 2: It's like, I don't think it's I think people just
Speaker 2: want to see Bron. Oh.
Speaker 1: I agree with that piece of it. But the criticism
Speaker 1: about the picture and about again, I Lebron cares about
Speaker 1: these records, and also he likes the accolades of winning.
Speaker 1: And he knew I have the best team by a mile,
Speaker 1: like they won it without him. So and it's two
Speaker 1: games to forty. He could have like he he going
Speaker 1: into Saturday night, I truly believe, did not know if
Speaker 1: he was gonna play or not. Then woke up Sunday
Speaker 1: mornings like I'm not doing it. And so I just
Speaker 1: find so much of this to be just insane. By
Speaker 1: the way, just because I invoked stephen A, did you
Speaker 1: see it demands, steven A did a whole segment responding
Speaker 1: to us responding to him about the top ten list.
Speaker 1: So a couple things. One is he was incredibly kind,
Speaker 1: very nice to me personally there called brew maybe the
Speaker 1: greatest human being he knows. I think like he was
Speaker 1: incredibly kind, uh, And I should reach out to stephen A.
Speaker 1: Didn't shout you out, which is a shame. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna work on that. I am. I would like at
Speaker 1: some point I'm throwing this out there now, at some
Speaker 1: point in the next year, we have to do a
Speaker 1: family crossover episode because you know, he does stuff.
Speaker 2: With his nephew. Yeah, yeah, that would.
Speaker 1: Be super funny if you and his nephew did like
Speaker 1: a twenty minute show together. Nephew, Yeah, I know you
Speaker 1: would get to be like and I think you're older
Speaker 1: than him, you would get to be like the responsible
Speaker 1: season journalist in the group. And but if you go
Speaker 1: back and watch it, here's the thing, if you actually
Speaker 1: listen to what he says, he unintentionally concedes that I
Speaker 1: was exactly right that, yeah, if you put pencil to paper,
Speaker 1: you would never you wouldn't have Katie in your top ten.
Speaker 1: Because he brings up the guys I mentioned. He brings
Speaker 1: up Uh, Kobe and Bird primarily, and he says off
Speaker 1: the front end, he was like, of course, we would
Speaker 1: never have Kevin Durant ahead of Kobe. Bryant says it
Speaker 1: like three times, and then he's like, but he averaged
Speaker 1: more points and was more efficient and its taller. But
Speaker 1: then he's like, bo, we wouldn't have him ahead of him,
Speaker 1: And then he brings up Bird. He's like, of course
Speaker 1: we wouldn't have Durant ahead a Bird because Bird's a
Speaker 1: champion and a three time MVP. But he did all
Speaker 1: these things, which was the exact point I was making like,
Speaker 1: you can say all these things, but if you actually
Speaker 1: put pencil of paper, you're going to come down on
Speaker 1: my side of things. And so shout out stephen A
Speaker 1: for his kind words. I also am going to reach
Speaker 1: out to him, not only about the nephew thing but
Speaker 1: about some other stuff. But regardless, I disagree with him
Speaker 1: that this was selfish. I disagree with again. And let
Speaker 1: me just cause I tried to tweet out the link,
Speaker 1: the YouTube link, and when I did that, I saw
Speaker 1: the like pre show chat and one of the snap
Speaker 1: One of the first things I saw and I'm glad
Speaker 1: I don't read that during the show would distract me.
Speaker 1: Was on Here comes Nick defending Lebron. Got to make
Speaker 1: sure those clutch checks clear. I've said this once before,
Speaker 1: let me say it again because I don't think people
Speaker 1: understand how agents work. So my agent, this guy named
Speaker 1: Ryan Hayden, does an awesome job. He works at UTA.
Speaker 1: Rich Paul is a partner at UTA. Ryan and Rich
Speaker 1: work together. Rich has helped me with a few things,
Speaker 1: so you know, I'm clutch client adjacent. But Rich is
Speaker 1: not my agent. But I've done stuff with him, right, Okay,
Speaker 1: So I've made that very clear in the past. Here's
Speaker 1: the other thing. Not only do they not pay me, guys,
Speaker 1: I pay them. It's the exactly you got this relationship
Speaker 1: exactly wrong. Your agent doesn't pay you. You you I
Speaker 1: work super hard building this family empire for Demons and
Speaker 1: Danielle and diora Indiana TV podcast, all of it, and
Speaker 1: then every month like a you know, almost ten percent
Speaker 1: of my money goes to them. Like it's not it's
Speaker 1: it's so the idea that I'm on the take quite
Speaker 1: the contrary. I provide a balance to the Lebron James
Speaker 1: equation and then I pay them for the pleasure of it.
Speaker 1: So if you're gonna roast me, don't get it right.
Speaker 1: And not only am I not on the take, I'm
Speaker 1: paying out all right, Demanda, let's talk All Star game.
Speaker 1: By the way, speaking to my agent, my dad about
Speaker 1: once a year, uh, Hayden, if you're listening about once
Speaker 1: a year my dad comes for your job. He's like four, yeah,
Speaker 1: he wants to yeah, because he's a professionally. You know,
Speaker 1: he was ran a firefighters union for thirty five years,
Speaker 1: negotiating with the city and he just the he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, I could negotiate this way cheaper than you
Speaker 1: know what you're paying your guy. Like, okay, pops, I appreciate.
Speaker 2: Oh initially you said you said your job. I thought
Speaker 2: you we were talking about me. And he wanted to
Speaker 2: come and do the podcast. No no, no, no, no
Speaker 2: no no.
Speaker 1: He comes from my agent's job. My dad would be
Speaker 1: the worst podcast host ever.
Speaker 2: He'd be a pretty great agent, though. Huh.
Speaker 1: He would be great at the negotiating the contract parts
Speaker 1: of it. A lot of being an agent is the
Speaker 1: soft per skills relationships. And you know, my dad can
Speaker 1: be a tough guy. Yeah, and he also is big
Speaker 1: on He's very big on the like walk away from
Speaker 1: the table, you know, dare them to. And I don't
Speaker 1: really have the stomach for I mean, he went to
Speaker 1: jail twice for if took the firefighters Union put him
Speaker 1: on strike in the city through him in jail. He's like,
Speaker 1: all sit here and wait.
Speaker 2: Stand up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't have the stomach for it. All right,
Speaker 1: let's do All Star game.
Speaker 2: Uh So, viewers and players were not big fans of
Speaker 2: the long stoppages between and in games, so there are
Speaker 2: some potential fixes coming to the one v one tournament.
Speaker 2: There I mean potential fixes coming with the introduction in
Speaker 2: the one v one tournament earlier start time. I'm in
Speaker 2: bigger names than the Dunk Contest. Everybody's super low on it.
Speaker 2: But you seem to have hope.
Speaker 1: Well, I thought the games were good. I thought I
Speaker 1: thought it was a bad TV show. I think that
Speaker 1: they there were there were too many stoppages, probably a
Speaker 1: little too much. Kevin Hart were being honest the inside.
Speaker 1: The NBA eulogy seemed odd because that show is continuing,
Speaker 1: it's just going from T and T to ESPN. So
Speaker 1: it was, you know, like they treating that like it
Speaker 1: was Hue Brown's last broadcast was weird because like, these
Speaker 1: guys are staying together, So that part I didn't just the.
Speaker 2: End of the version of them.
Speaker 1: Yes, but so that was it was a little mellow
Speaker 1: dramatic in my regard, in my opinion, that right. But
Speaker 1: I thought that they achieved what they wanted basketball wise,
Speaker 1: guys played harder, they cared, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: It wasn't just threes and dunks like, so I thought
Speaker 1: it was a step in the right direction. I would
Speaker 1: propose this tweak, have the games beat a fifty instead
Speaker 1: of forty and instead of having four teams of eight guys,
Speaker 1: and therefore you have thirty two guys, and you have
Speaker 1: to have the rising stars involved, have four teams of
Speaker 1: seven guys, and expand the All Star team from twenty
Speaker 1: four to twenty eight. So that accomplishes a couple things.
Speaker 1: First of all, we won't have to worry about the
Speaker 1: ignominy of Norman Powell snubs in the future, because everybody
Speaker 1: was so fucking worried about Norman Powell's feelings. But the
Speaker 1: All Star Game had twenty four guys in it back
Speaker 1: when the league had twelve teams, and it has stayed
Speaker 1: at twenty four guys now that we have thirty teams,
Speaker 1: So expanding it slightly to twenty eight probably makes sense.
Speaker 1: And we don't have to worry about the you know,
Speaker 1: there won't be as many snubs or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: The league is deep, that deep with talent and I
Speaker 1: so I didn't mind this tournament format. I thought it
Speaker 1: was cool. I thought the TV production could have been tighter.
Speaker 1: I think the games could have been a touch longer,
Speaker 1: and then you fix a lot of it. But I
Speaker 1: I love the idea of a one one on one contest.
Speaker 1: I love it I will guys do it. I don't
Speaker 1: know if guys will do it. I think it would
Speaker 1: be exceptional TV and way more fun than a horse
Speaker 1: or the different things that we've you know, that we've
Speaker 1: heard about. So I really like the idea of the
Speaker 1: one on one tournament. But I didn't hate I did
Speaker 1: not hate this. Uh. I didn't hate this the way
Speaker 1: other people did, and I thought it was I think
Speaker 1: sometimes what happens is we once again take our cues.
Speaker 1: I think the fans take their cues from the media
Speaker 1: and social media, and I think Draymond and we'll get
Speaker 1: to Draymond in a minute being on the broadcast just
Speaker 1: saying how much this sucks. Like I thought that was bad.
Speaker 1: I really thought it was bad. And I just can't
Speaker 1: imagine that ever happening with another sport, and that to
Speaker 1: me is now. I have been critical at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the year, said the NBA has some real concerns.
Speaker 1: The load management thing is a real concern, and the
Speaker 1: just every team playing the same way with all the threes,
Speaker 1: that's a real concern that needs to be addressed. But
Speaker 1: that can be true, and then it also can be
Speaker 1: true that during the event it should be a celebration
Speaker 1: of your sport. I just can't it's I can't imagine
Speaker 1: Fox has the Major League Baseball All Star Game. Can
Speaker 1: you imagine? Even the lead up to it, Poppy and
Speaker 1: a Rod and Jeter were just like, here's why the
Speaker 1: game sucks. Here's why people don't care. Here's why it
Speaker 1: was better back in my day. Like that's that's a
Speaker 1: downer for the fans. And again, I'm not acting like
Speaker 1: I thought it was a perfect event. It was not
Speaker 1: a perfect event, but I thought the actual basketball was
Speaker 1: way better than the last couple of years. I also
Speaker 1: think people have been overly dramatic about how bad it's
Speaker 1: been for the last ten years. Twenty twenty post Kobe
Speaker 1: passing was a great game, twenty twenty two had an
Speaker 1: awesome finish, twenty twenty three and twenty twenty four were terrible,
Speaker 1: and Durant I think nailed it in some of his
Speaker 1: tweets when he was like, listen, the All Star Game's
Speaker 1: always been about three quarters of screwing around, so to speak,
Speaker 1: and then if it's close, lockdown for the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: The problem the last couple of years has been the
Speaker 1: three pointer allows teams to get to such a huge
Speaker 1: lead that there is no period of oh it's close late,
Speaker 1: let's fight for this. So tweaks were needed, But the
Speaker 1: NBA just also needs like better pr like nobody thinks
Speaker 1: that demands a that the Pro Bowl being a literal
Speaker 1: flag football game is a massive indictment on the NFL.
Speaker 1: Nobody thinks that, And go ahead if it look like
Speaker 1: you want to.
Speaker 2: No, no, no. I made a flag football point earlier
Speaker 2: and they shot it down. But well, well it's a
Speaker 2: little bit different, just because with football, you know, you
Speaker 2: don't want to want the guys to get hurt. I
Speaker 2: was just thinking, why would you want the guys speak
Speaker 2: one hundred percent the whole time during All Star Game
Speaker 2: to begin with, just makes them more likely to get
Speaker 2: hurt during a time where.
Speaker 1: So listen, guys have never gone. It's a myth, the
Speaker 1: idea that these games were always great games or guys
Speaker 1: were always going one hundred percent. It's just not true.
Speaker 1: Now like it we can. The last two years were jokes.
Speaker 1: Everyone understands that. But twenty twenty two was awesome with
Speaker 1: the eelam ending one sixty three one sixty final. Twenty
Speaker 1: twenty was great with another elam ending one fifty seven,
Speaker 1: one fifty five final, and you know it's been twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen was fine, Uh, twenty fifteen was decent.
Speaker 2: Let's just go the first. We're supposed to be a
Speaker 2: breath of fresh air, you know. I feel like it's
Speaker 2: supposed to reset. It's not something to be so raw
Speaker 2: rah over.
Speaker 1: But so I tend to agree, and people bring up
Speaker 1: oh Man ninety three, Jordan's last year before he quit.
Speaker 1: The first time one fifty one thirty five, one thirty
Speaker 1: two overtime. That's awesome. The year before was one fifty three,
Speaker 1: one thirteen. It's a forty point blowout or one team
Speaker 1: scored one fifty. The year before that was an awesome
Speaker 1: game one sixteen, one fourteen. The year before that was
Speaker 1: a ball one thirty one thirteen. Now I'm not acting
Speaker 1: like it hasn't. You know, it's gotten it's gotten worse.
Speaker 1: I understand that, which is why the tweaks are needed.
Speaker 1: But again, people are just uh way way too nostalgic
Speaker 1: about things that did or didn't exist, And so I
Speaker 1: do think the NBA smartly wants to tweak some things,
Speaker 1: and I think they're trying to We'll get to the
Speaker 1: Draymond stuff in just a second, But first, who's scoring
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Speaker 1: slash b ball. All right, demonse, let's get to self
Speaker 1: appointed all stars are Draymond Green, who had, I mean
Speaker 1: just a treasure troil of quotes this weekend? Go ahead,
Speaker 1: So do you.
Speaker 2: Want me to just go through all of them? And
Speaker 2: I want you to go.
Speaker 1: Through all of them and then all and then all
Speaker 1: respond So.
Speaker 2: So Draymond, you know, was talking to him getting a
Speaker 2: head coaching gig. He said, I've already been offered the
Speaker 2: Golden State Warriors head coaching job when I'm done. He
Speaker 2: also said they were gonna win a title. He said,
Speaker 2: quote I said, I think we're gonna win a championship,
Speaker 2: but I lied, we are going to win the championship.
Speaker 2: That's what's going to happen. And he caught out the
Speaker 2: Rising Stars game and he said that there's some team
Speaker 2: that no one wants to see. And his thoughts on
Speaker 2: the new format one through ten was a zero. It
Speaker 2: sucks the same basketball.
Speaker 1: Okay, So Draymond Green being the head coach in waiting
Speaker 1: for the Golden State Warriors is news, and it would
Speaker 1: be treated as news if I think people took that seriously.
Speaker 1: The Warriors winning the championship it once again Draymond is
Speaker 1: writing checks that Steph is going to have to cash.
Speaker 1: I don't I like Jimmy and but Draymond is nowhere
Speaker 1: close to the player he was at the peak of
Speaker 1: their dynasty, and Steph is not quite the same player
Speaker 1: he now. He came on strong at the end of
Speaker 1: the before the break, but I would be they are
Speaker 1: far far more likely to lose in round one than
Speaker 1: they are to reach the finals. And now let's get
Speaker 1: to the other stuff. He's right about the Rising Stars
Speaker 1: shouldn't be playing Sunday Night. I actually think that is correct,
Speaker 1: and that is a tweak they should make. I get
Speaker 1: why they did it to make it to where there
Speaker 1: was a real pressure on the stars, like we can't
Speaker 1: let these kids beat us, but it should be a privilege.
Speaker 1: But as often happens with Draymond, he while being correct,
Speaker 1: his delivery of the information is so poorly done that
Speaker 1: it's lost. And being on the pregame show for an event,
Speaker 1: I felt so terribly for my dear friend Adam Lefko,
Speaker 1: who is the one who asked him the one to
Speaker 1: ten question, and then Draymond says a zero. This sucks
Speaker 1: that buddy. Your job in that moment is to create
Speaker 1: excitement for the event. Like that's people like, oh, I
Speaker 1: applaud the honesty.
Speaker 2: I do not.
Speaker 1: Do not take that gig. If that's how you feel.
Speaker 1: I mean this sincerely. Like, let's say I thought pickleball
Speaker 1: was the dumbest sport ever, and then someone comes to me,
Speaker 1: They're like, hey, crazy thing, man, They're asking you to
Speaker 1: be a part of the Pickleball World Championship broad cast.
Speaker 1: It would be my job to be like, you know what,
Speaker 1: probably not the place for me not to be like, yep,
Speaker 1: I'll take it so I can tell all these people
Speaker 1: who are tuning in to watch it how much this sucks.
Speaker 1: It's just that's just rude, and it's it's profession.
Speaker 2: They probably like they reached out to Draymond like, hey,
Speaker 2: do you want to do this? How would like if
Speaker 2: Draymond has those thoughts in his mind, he knows that's
Speaker 2: how he's gonna talk. You're saying he should just not
Speaker 2: do it.
Speaker 1: He s you'd be like no. I think that if
Speaker 1: when listen he works for TNT, he does stuff for him.
Speaker 1: I think that when they're like, hey, just like the
Speaker 1: vast majority of years in your career, you did not
Speaker 1: make the All Star team, so you're available this weekend.
Speaker 1: Would you like to do this? I think that if
Speaker 1: you'd have been like, well, I think that if he
Speaker 1: had been like sure, but just so you know, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna tell the audience how much the game sucks, they
Speaker 1: might be like, ooh, all right, maybe we'll find something else.
Speaker 1: And this is the other piece of it that I
Speaker 1: find really galling. Why is he the the grand person
Speaker 1: on the game yet? Like I, why so of NBA
Speaker 1: history Draymond Green. There are one hundred and forty seven
Speaker 1: people who have played in more All Star Games than
Speaker 1: Draymond Green. One hundred and forty seven. Like was Chris
Speaker 1: Webber on that panel? I can't remember. I don't think
Speaker 1: he was. Maybe I'm not sure, because Chris Webber is
Speaker 1: one of them. Karl Anthony Towns, who was in the game,
Speaker 1: is one of them. Kevin who seems available, is one
Speaker 1: of them. Like the Vince was on the stage. Vince
Speaker 1: has played in double the All Star Games? Is stray hungry?
Speaker 1: Like who he is? Not the the the arbiter or
Speaker 1: the czar of All Star history? He he just isn't.
Speaker 1: And the idea that he I just found it. Really
Speaker 1: I'm gonna use a nerdy word, uncouth. It would you
Speaker 1: would not have before? I mean, Stephen Durant are there
Speaker 1: and playing in it. They are taking it seriously, and
Speaker 1: for you to be like this sucks, it's not basketball.
Speaker 1: I would he be feeling that way if he had
Speaker 1: been selected? Maybe? I don't know.
Speaker 2: I just know that Brow his his jersey off and
Speaker 2: running off the field. It's just a little I feel.
Speaker 1: Like, well, no, no, no, it's it's it's not that,
Speaker 1: but it would be I'm trying to think of a
Speaker 1: good comp for it. It would be as if who
Speaker 1: is a like a really good but not all time
Speaker 1: great NFL player, if Brandon Graham before this year's Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl was like holding court about the way football must
Speaker 1: be played in a game that had all time legends
Speaker 1: playing in it, Like, buddy, you you have less experience
Speaker 1: with the All Star Game than Demarta Rosen, Like, I'm
Speaker 1: not the you need to make one more for your
Speaker 1: career total of All Star appearances to be the same
Speaker 1: as Al Horford or like, like what I'm just saying
Speaker 1: those are five times as like I mean, I'm just
Speaker 1: I'm not taking my All Star history lesson from a
Speaker 1: guy who has the same number of appearances as Otis
Speaker 1: bird Song. I'm just not. And so like you can
Speaker 1: go somewhere with that, and if you want to do it,
Speaker 1: that's what the pod is for. Like, that's what the
Speaker 1: pod is for, not for the game broadcast. All right,
Speaker 1: let's move on.
Speaker 2: So you've we just started against the NBA season and
Speaker 2: you haven't waved in on your MVP pick. Uh So,
Speaker 2: coming out of the All Star break, who would you
Speaker 2: should you play your flag on?
Speaker 1: Listen? I think the put in the doc. What the
Speaker 1: odds are? I have to imagine Shay is a huge
Speaker 1: favorite right now. Shaye deserves it. They have really they
Speaker 1: have an excellent roster of really good players, but they
Speaker 1: only have one great player and it's him, and they
Speaker 1: are the best team in the league. So Shay right
Speaker 1: now is to me the clear pick for it. I
Speaker 1: will tell you though, and this might surprise you, demanse
Speaker 1: if there's anyone that can steal it from him, there's
Speaker 1: only one guy, and he is lurking. Who do you
Speaker 1: think I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2: It is one guy in the NBA?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think there's only one guy. I think that
Speaker 1: I would bet all of what No, because now if
Speaker 1: there's that sixty five game thing, so I wouldn't bet
Speaker 1: all of my money, but I would bet a ton
Speaker 1: of money that it's going to be one of two people.
Speaker 1: And again I haven't looked at the god. Je'll look
Speaker 1: at him in a second. I imagine Shaye is a
Speaker 1: huge favorite. But the one guy who could steal it
Speaker 1: from him that I think that I probably wouldn't have
Speaker 1: a problem with. Do you know who I'm gonna say.
Speaker 2: I do not know who. I mean, I would like.
Speaker 2: You couldn't be Luca, obviously, he switched teams in the
Speaker 2: middle of.
Speaker 1: Luca is not going to play enough games, right, No,
Speaker 1: it's it's a guy that people think I don't like.
Speaker 1: It's Joker. Oh, Joker.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: The reason I said I didn't think you could guess
Speaker 1: it because well, and all of a sudden, now in
Speaker 1: a guy who just skirts criticism, by the way for
Speaker 1: coming into every single season out of shape. And then
Speaker 1: he was like, what's wrong with Jamal Murray? And then
Speaker 1: around the All Star break, they're like, man, Nuggets sure
Speaker 1: look better. And it's yeah, because Jamal Murray finally played
Speaker 1: himself into shape. I mean, the Nuggets are super dangerous again,
Speaker 1: and Jamal's playing well, he just had what you have
Speaker 1: fifty five the other night. But Joker's been spectacular.
Speaker 2: All right.
Speaker 1: I'm now looking at the odds. Oh, and the odds
Speaker 1: are back up what I was saying. Shay is minus
Speaker 1: five hundred Jokers plus three point fifty, and no one
Speaker 1: else is better than eighty to one. Giannis is eighty
Speaker 1: to one. Tatum's two hundred to one. Get out of
Speaker 1: here with Wimby, Get out of here with I listen,
Speaker 1: Wimby might win Defensive Player of the Year. He's been excellent,
Speaker 1: he is. He has been a part of forty total
Speaker 1: wins in his career nineteen last year, in twenty one
Speaker 1: this year, like the Spurs right now have the same
Speaker 1: number of wins as the Blazers. Wimby is not an
Speaker 1: mv HE candidate Yannis is an interesting one, but they
Speaker 1: would have to get red hot like Yana. Is it
Speaker 1: eighty to one? What go ahead?
Speaker 2: Uh? No, it was. I mean to cut you off there,
Speaker 2: but Adam in the chat thought you were gonna say
Speaker 2: Norman Powell.
Speaker 1: No, I mean it's a two man race, and let
Speaker 1: me bond Temps bond Temp's straw pole. I know he
Speaker 1: just came up, came out with his latest straw pole.
Speaker 1: I didn't read it yet. Gosh darn it. Am I
Speaker 1: the only person who has the most trouble in the
Speaker 1: world getting logged out of their ESPN plus account. I
Speaker 1: swear to God, man.
Speaker 2: This is the don't have that luxury.
Speaker 1: It's not a lot of money, buddy. Uh, I mean,
Speaker 1: I can't I guess I can't want I can't read
Speaker 1: the article. This is so maddening. I just get logged out.
Speaker 1: They tell me I have the wrong password. I then
Speaker 1: have the right password, and it then tells me like
Speaker 1: I'm still logged out. Is so annoying.
Speaker 2: The Yeah, I hate it when I'm trying to put
Speaker 2: in a password for a place and they're like, this
Speaker 2: password is incorrect. All right, I reset the password and
Speaker 2: then I changed the password and they're like, hey, this
Speaker 2: password can't be your last password.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the also can. All right, I'm in now, thankfully.
Speaker 1: So the straw pole, Yes, so in Bontim's straw Pole,
Speaker 1: which I'm sure impacted the odds. One hundred potential voters,
Speaker 1: seventy first place votes for Joke or for Shay, thirty
Speaker 1: for Joker, and then almost the exact opposite for second place,
Speaker 1: so they were one voter away from being a unanimous
Speaker 1: first second second First Shay got seventy first thirty seconds,
Speaker 1: Joker got thirty first sixty nine seconds. Let's so this
Speaker 1: is how it. And then Giannis running away with third,
Speaker 1: Tatum running away with fourth, and then Donovan Jalen and
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony towns Neck and neck for fifth, and then
Speaker 1: after that again Wimby got a third place vote. Get
Speaker 1: out of here. Jaron Jackson got us two fourths and
Speaker 1: a first and a fifth. Anthony got two fifth bron
Speaker 1: You're twenty two three fifth place votes. Shout out. Cad
Speaker 1: Cunningham got one fourth. Okay, Shingoon got a fifth. That's fine.
Speaker 1: Uh yeah, Shay or Joker right now, it's got to
Speaker 1: be Shay. But Joker's got a Joker has a real
Speaker 1: shot at it, and that team is scary. Top ten man,
Speaker 1: Joker finished top ten all time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's gonna take Katie spot at ten.
Speaker 1: Well, we did this man the other day. Katie not
Speaker 1: quite at ten? Where Joker? Where did I have him
Speaker 1: when I did it? I think I had him finished?
Speaker 2: I feel okay, yeah, maybe sixteen.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure people said that. When I did the list,
Speaker 1: I said Oscar Robertson twice.
Speaker 2: I think fourteen and sixteen or something like that.
Speaker 1: I think Jerry West was supposed to be fourteen and
Speaker 1: Oscar is supposed to be sixteen. I think I I
Speaker 1: think I skipped Jerry and said Oscar twice. But well,
Speaker 1: here's the thing, Joker in order to be eligible for that,
Speaker 1: he's got to win another title. And people can say
Speaker 1: that's reductive, that's stupid, but it's not.
Speaker 2: Like the yeah, I think he's going to do that.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so yeah, I mean, because you look at it.
Speaker 1: The guys who are firmly in the top ten. Kareem's
Speaker 1: got six, Brons got four, Michael's got six, Russell's got eleven,
Speaker 1: Wilts got two, Shack Scott and Shack's not even only
Speaker 1: in the top ten but he is. Shack's got four,
Speaker 1: Kobe's got five, Duncan's got five, a Cheam only has two.
Speaker 1: West I West only as one, but he's not in
Speaker 1: the top ten. And so yeah, so I mean two
Speaker 1: is the barrier and maybe he'll do it. Maybe one,
Speaker 1: four and four Yeah right, two mbps equals one title, No,
Speaker 1: because because the Steve Nash doesn't have a title, and
Speaker 1: mb doesn't have half a title, I would you know,
Speaker 1: but three maybe three mbps is a title. I'm okay
Speaker 1: with that. The the yeah, but listen, sorry, I got
Speaker 1: Shaye right now is the huge favorite and should be
Speaker 1: UH and he's been spectacular. I still worry about them
Speaker 1: a bit, just a bit. In the UH in the playoffs,
Speaker 1: if they yeah, just the youth plus I need. Last
Speaker 1: year in the playoffs, Shaye played up to his level.
Speaker 1: All the other kids didn't quite so that worries me.
Speaker 1: That worries me a bit, all right. This episode of
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Speaker 1: updates and recipes. All right, Demanse, let's get to some
Speaker 1: listener questions and if we can put some more in
Speaker 1: the chat, if the producers can, I'm gonna ask the
Speaker 1: first one because the first one is for you and
Speaker 1: it says, uh, I'm from Eric, I'm a big Celtics fan.
Speaker 1: Just wanted to ask where your Celtics fandom came from
Speaker 1: and how you feel about the team's chances this year.
Speaker 2: Eric o oh answered the second one. First, I think
Speaker 2: we're gonna win the championship again this year. I think
Speaker 2: we'll go back to back. And the first question, I
Speaker 2: don't know what type of cable we had on Walren,
Speaker 2: but there was a time that I came home and
Speaker 2: I'm pretty it was the finals. They were playing Kobe
Speaker 2: in the finals. The Green team was playing the old team.
Speaker 2: I wasn't really big. I don't I don't think I
Speaker 2: knew all the NBA team names and stuff. Just really
Speaker 2: wanted this Green team to beat Kobe. And it's just
Speaker 2: uh and the Rondo, Rey Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce tandem.
Speaker 2: I just love that squad and to this day, Ray
Speaker 2: Allen and Rondo are two of my favorite players. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I was it squad?
Speaker 1: Was it Ray Allen or Rondo that you had? The fact?
Speaker 2: It was Rondo? Honestly, it was Rondo the fact. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I feel like I had a Rey Allen poster.
Speaker 2: I feel like I had like a poster of one,
Speaker 2: A fat had of one. But uh, but yeah, no,
Speaker 2: Ito has been my guys.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I mean that's that's exactly how I remember it.
Speaker 1: And yeah, so that finals you're talking about.
Speaker 2: Is just an or something like that.
Speaker 1: Well, they played, they played in eight, and the Celtics one,
Speaker 1: they played again in ten, and the Lakers one. But
Speaker 1: the one you're talking about is eight, because by the
Speaker 1: time they played in ten, you cared and yeah, two
Speaker 1: thousand and eight. This is I mean, this is just
Speaker 1: I mean, we're going back in the archives now, this
Speaker 1: is right around the time that you and I met
Speaker 1: exactly you know what I mean, This is like right,
Speaker 1: and you weren't you didn't play basketball yet or anything,
Speaker 1: but that was that was your team and then yeah
Speaker 1: and then later in life. I think the only other
Speaker 1: player that came close from me watching it from you
Speaker 1: for fandom, individual player fandom to those two guys was Crawford.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I love you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love Jamal Crawford. H. That just that handle
Speaker 2: that I could never master. But yeah, it's just a
Speaker 2: smooth dude, just a smooth GUH.
Speaker 1: All right, so uh. Abishek says the one issue with
Speaker 1: NBA discord is that people are pretending like basketball is
Speaker 1: better than their two thousands than now overall. Listen, I
Speaker 1: do think there are some Much like baseball, analytics cracked
Speaker 1: the sport and they had to make adjustments. I do
Speaker 1: think there are some real adjustments the NBA needs to make.
Speaker 1: I also think that if any of these old heads
Speaker 1: that swear the game was better in a previous era,
Speaker 1: if we set up a livestream mystery science theater two
Speaker 1: thousand style or a three thousand style where they have
Speaker 1: to sit and watch a full game, just pick a
Speaker 1: random it can be a playoff game from different decades,
Speaker 1: we'd be like, oh, maybe it isn't quite as glorious
Speaker 1: as I remember, and maybe that we do see having
Speaker 1: to guard all segments of the court and the athleticism,
Speaker 1: there are some real benefits to today's game. Ask AJ's question, Aj.
Speaker 2: If Lebron wins a championship with Luca and Lucas without
Speaker 2: a doubt the finals MVP, does it help or hurt
Speaker 2: Lebron's legacy?
Speaker 1: It unquestionably helps it. He does not he's the oldest
Speaker 1: player in the league. Like nobody holds against Kareem that
Speaker 1: his final two rings, he was the second best player
Speaker 1: on that team, Like nobody holds it against him, and Kareem,
Speaker 1: by the way, was not nearly like was not in
Speaker 1: year twenty two. Now he was old because he played
Speaker 1: four years of college.
Speaker 2: Uh, no, way in one of the finals right now
Speaker 2: with Lebron be in the MVP, I'm sorry, Like, if
Speaker 2: Lucas Luca Lucas the MVP, that means they wont Oh.
Speaker 2: I'm not trying to I'm not trying to flame Lebron here,
Speaker 2: but it's just I.
Speaker 1: Totally agree Lebron is not good enough right now to
Speaker 1: be the best player on a champion, right, But that's
Speaker 1: why Lucas been so exciting. Yeah, he I do think
Speaker 1: he's good enough to be the second best player on
Speaker 1: a champion. Maybe I'll be wrong, but I think that
Speaker 1: with Luca, I think he's definitively good enough. All right,
Speaker 1: ask Lj's question, then we'll get out of here.
Speaker 2: LJ. Hey, Nick, do you think All Star game could
Speaker 2: feature the Team USA versus Team World? That way to
Speaker 2: fix the fix the competitive nature.
Speaker 1: So that's a weird one though, because how are we
Speaker 1: actually picking like there aren't There aren't twelve worthy international
Speaker 1: All Stars. That's the problem with you know what I mean? So, like,
Speaker 1: are we gonna name the All Star teams but then
Speaker 1: play a game not involving them? Everybody suggests that because
Speaker 1: the best players in the league, so many of them
Speaker 1: are international, but there aren't twelve. You know, half of
Speaker 1: the best twenty four players are not international players. You'd have,
Speaker 1: you know, you'd have a really solid eight, But then
Speaker 1: after that we're kind of we're falling off a bit.
Speaker 1: I do think that could be interesting. I also think
Speaker 1: that the weird spot is you have a disproportionate number
Speaker 1: of the great international guys play the same position. Is
Speaker 1: a lot of Biggs in jokicch embiid honest Wimby like
Speaker 1: just basketball wise, it doesn't quite fit all right. Is
Speaker 1: also somebody asked, now that football's done, you're watching any
Speaker 1: TV shows? Watching White Lotus. Now the football's done, I'm
Speaker 1: just playing a lot of Red Dead Redemption. I just
Speaker 1: gotta tell you, I am so. It is therapeutic. I
Speaker 1: enjoy it. I look forward to it. Last night, your
Speaker 1: mom and I turned on White Lotus.
Speaker 2: She as is she always does.
Speaker 1: If that is fifteen minutes in, I wasn't tired, and
Speaker 1: I wouldn't. That's a show we watched together. So I
Speaker 1: didn't want to watch it. So I just snuck downstairs
Speaker 1: and got in a good forty minutes of Red Dead
Speaker 1: Redemption before bed. It's just it's just what I'm doing, Hobbs.
Speaker 1: Thanks all right. Podcast Thursday, then a week off. Then
Speaker 1: we're gonna get to a three day, three podcast a
Speaker 1: week schedule starting in March. But our last podcast for
Speaker 1: our vacation is on Thursday. See you guys on First
Speaker 1: Things First in a few hours. Great job, Demond's a
Speaker 1: great job. Folks at Blue Duck and our folks at volume.
Speaker 1: Thank you guys. Appreciate you guys, watching View and listening
Speaker 1: the whole thing. Talk to you guys soon.
Speaker 2: We'll trick