Speaker 1: On this episode of This League, we're doing some coach talk.
Speaker 1: Is Steve Kerk committed to the Warriors tanking? Does Steve
Speaker 1: Nash know what he's doing in Brooklyn? We also get
Speaker 1: into the NBA's money grab that is the All Star Game,
Speaker 1: and we delve in a more listener DM. So, without
Speaker 1: further ado, today is a day and a tale of
Speaker 1: two Steves. One homie is super pressed, Yeah to the
Speaker 1: fucking max, and the other Steve seems to be not
Speaker 1: pressed at all. One guy is like, holy shit, I'm
Speaker 1: on the chopping block, and the other guy is like,
Speaker 1: you know what, we're thinking about contending in twenty twenty nine.
Speaker 1: This is the world that we're living in a tale
Speaker 1: of two Steves, a tale of two sons living in
Speaker 1: two vastly different headspaces. So let's start with the Warriors, right,
Speaker 1: because why not? What is going on in Golden State?
Speaker 2: Nothing good? Nothing good, That's all I could say.
Speaker 1: I don't understand what's happening. It's like they want to
Speaker 1: go to the playoffs, but they don't want to go
Speaker 1: to the playoffs. Like I'm upset. I want to see
Speaker 1: Steph Curry do Steph Curry things? This is what we
Speaker 1: are looking for, folks. Will he be batman? And Steph
Speaker 1: is determined to show us that he is, and Steve
Speaker 1: Kurry is determined to keep that man down. They've lost
Speaker 1: five five games because Steve Kerr is fucking around and
Speaker 1: limiting Steph Curry's minutes in crunch time. If they won
Speaker 1: four out of those five games because it was tight,
Speaker 1: it was close, they're in third in the West. That's
Speaker 1: the facts. That is the case. He's just sitting them
Speaker 1: just at random times that are very important. Second quarter,
Speaker 1: fourth quarter. I don't know that seems that seems like
Speaker 1: those are moments that matter the most. Yeah, pretty important,
Speaker 1: pretty important times. And so after an L. So they
Speaker 1: took an L on Monday night against the San Antonio
Speaker 1: Spurs that they should have won, and the media said, hey, Kerr, like,
Speaker 1: what's good. Why isn't Curry playing at some of the
Speaker 1: most crucial times in the game. And he was like, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's part of our plan. We're not chasing this guy's that.
Speaker 1: We're not chasing wins. We're chasing longevity. What we're focusing
Speaker 1: on keeping Steph fresh for the next not three to
Speaker 1: five months, folks, but three to five years. I've never
Speaker 1: heard that in my entire life. We are not focused
Speaker 1: on winning games this season. Play the clip.
Speaker 3: I'm not interested in grinding through this season, which is
Speaker 3: already a very difficult season, given the called, the regulations,
Speaker 3: and just the nature of the games themselves. Uh, you know,
Speaker 3: these theory empty stadiums. This is for me, for our organization,
Speaker 3: We're not We're not throwing stuff out there for forty minutes, uh,
Speaker 3: to to chase wins. We got another game tomorrow. We want,
Speaker 3: we want Steph to be playing at a high level
Speaker 3: for many years, so we're gonna stay very disappointed, try
Speaker 3: to keep them at that thirty four to thirty five
Speaker 3: minute mark.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Marty, tell me what you thought about that.
Speaker 4: I mean, I've never heard a professional coach of or
Speaker 4: not even just professional. I've never heard a coach of
Speaker 4: any kind say anything remotely close to that. Literally, just
Speaker 4: straight up admitting we're not trying to win games.
Speaker 1: That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard.
Speaker 1: We're not here to grind out wins. Are you serious?
Speaker 1: You're gonna limit Steph to thirty five minutes? No, man,
Speaker 1: no matter what, he can't ever play forty minutes. I
Speaker 1: don't under I don't. I am so baffled by that statement.
Speaker 1: And you know what, Steph Curry is also baffled by
Speaker 1: that statement because in crunch time against the San Antonio Spurs,
Speaker 1: he Ice grilled Steve Kerr for like thirty straight seconds,
Speaker 1: like are you gonna put me into the game or not?
Speaker 1: And it was like or not? This is a problem.
Speaker 1: Please someone tell Steve Kerr why you play the game? Hello?
Speaker 1: No one's playing for longevity here, folks. How bad is it?
Speaker 1: You now have a coach that's just given up on
Speaker 1: his team winning games. He's like, this year is an
Speaker 1: l we're taking. We're just gonna lose games on purpose.
Speaker 1: That's about as close to saying we're losing on purpose.
Speaker 1: You do not say that unless in your heart of
Speaker 1: hearts you know that you can't truly compete. Kind of
Speaker 1: entitled shit five finals in a row? Kind of shit?
Speaker 1: Was that? Like, you know what, if we can't win
Speaker 1: at all, we're just not gonna win at all? Like
Speaker 1: what that is? That is absurd? This is a year
Speaker 1: to year sport, folks. We don't know if Klay Thompson's
Speaker 1: gonna come back healthy next year. You are not certain
Speaker 1: that Steph Curry after my conversation with the Light Years
Speaker 1: boys out in the bay, you're not certain that Steph
Speaker 1: Curry is going to re sign to a max contract.
Speaker 1: You don't know if you have him for the next
Speaker 1: three to five years. He hasn't signed on the dotted
Speaker 1: line yet. No one knows what's going to happen. You
Speaker 1: have to I want to see Steph Curry eight seed
Speaker 1: against the Lakers. That's what I want to see.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd love that.
Speaker 1: This is all part of their master plan. They are tanking.
Speaker 1: I have said it. They are tanking again, either for
Speaker 1: picks or to package picks with James Wiseman and get
Speaker 1: somebody that's on the trade block. Why else would you
Speaker 1: have Kelly Hubray and Andrew Wiggins out there at the
Speaker 1: same time If it wasn't to tank. There's no other explanation.
Speaker 1: The front office probably thought to themselves, Listen, if we
Speaker 1: have Andrew Wiggins and Ubra, we don't even need to
Speaker 1: try to tank. It'll just happen naturally. It's just gonna happen.
Speaker 1: And then Curry decided, you know what, I've heard all
Speaker 1: the slander, I'm gonna put on my best batman cape,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to elevate this team to heights that
Speaker 1: no one could have ever foreseen. He started doing Curry
Speaker 1: things and then oh my god, Uber got his mind
Speaker 1: right and he got hot, which he's prone to do.
Speaker 1: That boy can get hot. And then all of a sudden,
Speaker 1: Andrew Wiggins is playing okay in front office is like, fuck,
Speaker 1: what are we gonna do now? Yep, We're not paying
Speaker 1: Uber to drop forty. We're paying him to go two
Speaker 1: for twenty eight from three.
Speaker 2: I swear he wasn't this bad in Phoenix.
Speaker 1: Him putting up buckets is the last thing we as
Speaker 1: the Warriors need. Kurz, like Draymond, I have a brilliant idea.
Speaker 1: These guys want to win and we certainly do not.
Speaker 1: Despite all of our failed plans, I think we can
Speaker 1: still pull this tanking thing off tonight. So let's break
Speaker 1: down the final eight point seven seconds of Monday Nights
Speaker 1: gave against the Spurs. So the Warriors are down by
Speaker 1: three ball at mid court. The place should be what, Marty,
Speaker 1: The place should go to Steph Curry.
Speaker 2: That should be the first. That's the first.
Speaker 1: But you gotta get Steph Curry free because they're locking
Speaker 1: them down in order to do that, you usually set
Speaker 1: a screen. Draymond decides to set the sloppiest goddamn screen
Speaker 1: I've ever seen in my whole life, and Curry can't
Speaker 1: get free, and so Draymond's now got the ball still,
Speaker 1: and with six seconds to go, he decides to pull
Speaker 1: his best impression of Logo Lillard and shoot from forty
Speaker 1: with six full seconds left in the game, and of
Speaker 1: course it just barely barely missed. Yeah, it hit the
Speaker 1: backboarder slams the backboard. Game over. It's almost like Steve
Speaker 1: Kerr feared overtime because he would have to give Steph
Speaker 1: Curry more minutes than he was planning to.
Speaker 2: How funny would it have been if you just drained it?
Speaker 1: I think that would have been incredible. I bet Steve
Speaker 1: Kurr would have been pissed. Yeah, So after the game,
Speaker 1: they asked Steve Cerr about Draymond Praymon green shot and
Speaker 1: his response was because they were like, yo, why did
Speaker 1: he shoot that? What was he doing? And then and
Speaker 1: he's like, well, they thought Draymond thought that they he
Speaker 1: would you know, they were gonna foul him, but you know,
Speaker 1: the Spurs don't do that. And maybe I should have
Speaker 1: told them that, he said, I maybe should have told
Speaker 1: the team that the Spurs never foul when you're down three.
Speaker 1: They're not gonna send you to the free throw line.
Speaker 1: So him just chucking up the ball didn't make any
Speaker 1: damn sense. Steve Kerr, what do you mean you should
Speaker 1: have told them that, maybe, Yeah, you played for Papovich,
Speaker 1: you coached for Papovich, You knew exactly what he was
Speaker 1: about to do, and you just on purpose decided you
Speaker 1: weren't gonna script that out for them. Time out on
Speaker 1: the side, you got the got your little clipboard up,
Speaker 1: and you decide what you're not gonna tell him. Kerr
Speaker 1: has now gone from one of my favorite coaches in
Speaker 1: the league to maybe my least favorite coach in the league.
Speaker 1: What is he fucking doing?
Speaker 2: Not much, not a whole lot.
Speaker 1: He's given up on winning. I've never heard of this
Speaker 1: in my The more I think about it, the more
Speaker 1: outraged I get. Can you imagine him sitting Steph Curry
Speaker 1: in the fourth quarter of a game with the Warriors
Speaker 1: one game out in a play in in the bubble?
Speaker 1: Does he limit to staff to thirty five minutes in
Speaker 1: Game three against the Lakers, like, what the fuck. Here's
Speaker 1: the bottom line. In my opinion, Kerr knows the as
Speaker 1: long as Lebron James is in the West, they're not
Speaker 1: doing a goddamn thing. So he's just like, YI, we're
Speaker 1: not chasing wins as long as Lebron is in LA.
Speaker 1: That's the longevity that he's talking about. We are currently
Speaker 1: looking into cryogenic options for Steph Curry and Clay until
Speaker 1: twenty thirty. We're trying to find that, you know, that
Speaker 1: sweet spot between the time that Lebron James retires in
Speaker 1: the time that Bronni James becomes dominant. That period of
Speaker 1: time that's when we're going to start to win again.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we've accumulated enough lottery picks that turn into something
Speaker 1: in the next eight years in order for us to
Speaker 1: be able to compete. Until then we out we're here
Speaker 1: to just like stay in the mix, not get blown out,
Speaker 1: but not really make the playoffs. So I may have
Speaker 1: to recon consider my statement. With all of this to
Speaker 1: be said, I am going to say this where I
Speaker 1: earlier said, if Curry got to the Western Conference finals,
Speaker 1: I would give him a kpe. He would be batman.
Speaker 1: But if he can single handedly undermine a fully orchestrated
Speaker 1: organizational tank led by Steve Kerr which seems to be happening,
Speaker 1: and managed to drag this dog shit team into the
Speaker 1: playoffs all by himself. While you've got Draymond Green throwing
Speaker 1: up bricks from forty feet at the end of games
Speaker 1: and Steve Kerr limiting his minutes, give that man a cape.
Speaker 1: Eve Nash is pressed. He's so pressed. Listen, it's time
Speaker 1: to talk about Steve Nash, Marty. It's been coming for
Speaker 1: a long time. We are a Brooklyn Nets pod, and
Speaker 1: the Nets have been in the news every single day.
Speaker 1: It feels like we've discussed them for nearly every show.
Speaker 1: And you know what, credit to me, I haven't said
Speaker 1: a peep, not one peep up, you know, I kind
Speaker 1: of saying I haven't said as much of a peep
Speaker 1: as I really have wanted to. And that that ends
Speaker 1: right now, Yes it does. When is it time to
Speaker 1: say that the Nets is Steve Nash are in trouble?
Speaker 1: Trouble when.
Speaker 2: I mean it probably is.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: They're losing to some pretty terrible teams.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they're pretty much only losing to Terrory. Yeah, they
Speaker 1: are four and eight against sub five hundred teams. Think
Speaker 1: that again to yourself, four and eight against teams sub
Speaker 1: five hundred. Eight of their twelve losses are against sub
Speaker 1: five hundred teams. They can't win on the road, they
Speaker 1: can't win close games. Steve nash Er boy looks lost.
Speaker 1: They're yelling at each other during games, and they just
Speaker 1: still majority of the time can't play defense. I don't
Speaker 1: care about that. And then putting the clamps on the
Speaker 1: Indiana Pacers in the third quarter where they only score
Speaker 1: twelve points, I don't care about that. We're talking about
Speaker 1: the majority of the time. They just let you walk
Speaker 1: on through. Everyone is now blaming It's like in Vogue
Speaker 1: because James Harden is the target, everyone's blaming him. But
Speaker 1: who was the one going after DeAndre Jordan for missing
Speaker 1: his defensive assignments? That was James Harden. Yo, play d
Speaker 1: d up. It's almost like to me, this team as
Speaker 1: a whole really just doesn't give a fuck a lot
Speaker 1: of things in flocks, new coach, new players, covid. Maybe
Speaker 1: we'll just chill turn it on when we want, turn
Speaker 1: it off when we want. So that actually makes me
Speaker 1: wonder whether I should actually be worried at all. So
Speaker 1: you flip this stat and then you become optimistic. They're
Speaker 1: ten and four against winning teams. Wow, when they want
Speaker 1: to try, they try.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that one sounds pretty good.
Speaker 1: That one sounds good. They're not bad, they're apathetic, and
Speaker 1: so they can turn it on against a team like
Speaker 1: the Clippers and then lose to a team like the Pistons.
Speaker 1: That's just crazy. So what if they're the one seed, Marty,
Speaker 1: what if they play an eight? Are they gonna give
Speaker 1: up two or three games to an eight seed? Like?
Speaker 2: Would they rather be a four?
Speaker 1: Yeah? They wud play like five and six?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: No, I mean it's definitely interesting. I think this roster
Speaker 4: has just a shit ton of problems. Like, I mean,
Speaker 4: I know this is gonna be a Nash segment, but
Speaker 4: there's no depth to this team at all. And there's
Speaker 4: really besides those three guys and Joe Harris, there's really
Speaker 4: no shooters. Well tlcs a shooter, but there's.
Speaker 1: No nobody interior presence wise.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that at all.
Speaker 1: No, I mean the whole DeAndre Jordan being your starting
Speaker 1: center just never was.
Speaker 2: He's sad to watch now.
Speaker 1: It really is the ultimate in nepotism for someone who
Speaker 1: is well, it's almost like Steve Nash. Actually, it's somebody
Speaker 1: who just does not belong there.
Speaker 4: Can we not compare Steve Nash and beyondre Jordan please,
Speaker 4: it's so.
Speaker 1: A fan DMS KD and the fan, like me, is concerned,
Speaker 1: and the fan says, not gonna lie as a fan,
Speaker 1: This shit is embarrassing. He slides into into kd's DMS.
Speaker 1: Of course, KD and KD fashion says. He responds, He's
Speaker 1: not like the rest of us, who says block. He responds,
Speaker 1: Shit's gonna be I ye, And it's true. I think
Speaker 1: with KD and Kyrie and Harden all deciding to try
Speaker 1: and synchrony no COVID scares and a bubble, shit just
Speaker 1: might be all right for them. But for Steve Nash,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure that it is going to be all
Speaker 1: right for him because, as one Twitter fan said it best,
Speaker 1: Steve Nash is currently getting paid. He's currently getting paid
Speaker 1: for a courtside seat to nets game. He's just there.
Speaker 1: He's just there taking up space during the game. I
Speaker 1: love that you have to just sit through this.
Speaker 4: You have to get it's fine, it's fine. You honestly
Speaker 4: haven't said anything. I disagree with too much.
Speaker 1: Yet during the game, the camera doesn't even pan to
Speaker 1: him because they know he's not doing shit and is
Speaker 1: irrelevant to the broadcast.
Speaker 2: Okay, he's just the chief.
Speaker 1: Of communications for the Brooklyn Nets. Okay, he's standing up
Speaker 1: there on the podium to discuss why you just lost
Speaker 1: to another sub five hundred team with platitudes about how
Speaker 1: it's up to them. You know, it's manifestured destiny. Who
Speaker 1: do you want to be tomorrow? It starts today. It's
Speaker 1: almost like this dude doesn't know what he's doing. Let's
Speaker 1: take a quick peek into the mind of a Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer point guard turn head coach and his assessment
Speaker 1: of what went wrong against the Pistons. My message was,
Speaker 1: here we go personal pride, personal pride.
Speaker 5: Connectivity and coming together makes resistance. We can't start the
Speaker 5: game down ten twenty in the second half.
Speaker 3: I'm expecting it to come easy.
Speaker 5: You know, this is professional sports. The other team is
Speaker 5: talented and capable, and we're shorthanded and we're small. We
Speaker 5: got to come out extremely sharp, extremely competitive, and we're
Speaker 5: a real fire. And it takes us getting down twenty
Speaker 5: to find that fire.
Speaker 1: Oh man, it's almost like, should someone should have told
Speaker 1: the nets that the Pistons just took the Lakers to
Speaker 1: double overtime and then Jeremy Grant is the problem. But hey,
Speaker 1: that's on the players, right, It's only them that watches
Speaker 1: game film. He was hired because he was a two
Speaker 1: time MVP level point guard with a basketball IQ off
Speaker 1: the charts, and when shit goes wrong, he sounds like
Speaker 1: a high school coach worried about getting fired, talking about
Speaker 1: heart and resistance and team identity and pride, try men,
Speaker 1: try harder compete. Anyone can say those words. That's just
Speaker 1: like a sentence of random you know, leadership buzzwords that
Speaker 1: you hear at some convention. You do not need a
Speaker 1: nine time All Star to spit buzzwords. What is he doing?
Speaker 1: I swear the only words missing were grit and mental toughness.
Speaker 1: He's a leader that is not leadership. These are the
Speaker 1: words that you see on an inspirational mini tear tear
Speaker 1: away calendar sitting on your desk. You know the ones
Speaker 1: where it's like the guy like at the edge of
Speaker 1: a cliff and it's a sunset on a big rock
Speaker 1: and then you just see like bravery. That's like where
Speaker 1: Steve Nash is getting his postgame inspirational thoughts from that's
Speaker 1: how he speaks. He speaks in those terms instead of
Speaker 1: prepping the nets for I don't know the things that
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be good at. You sound like you're
Speaker 1: taking words from Les Brown's instagram. He wants to be
Speaker 1: basketball's version of Tony Robbins instead of being the next
Speaker 1: Eric Spolstra. And I tell you what that is, A pblum.
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know if he's watching games,
Speaker 1: like maybe he's I don't know what he's doing. He
Speaker 1: should be watching games, but it sounds like maybe his
Speaker 1: league pass. They still stuck in Manhattan Beach and so
Speaker 1: all the Lakers games are blacked out, And so he
Speaker 1: didn't know that Jeremy Grant took Lebron James to two overtimes.
Speaker 1: It is just baffling. Here is the sound currently coming
Speaker 1: from Sean Marks's office. I'd like someone finds Jack Bauer
Speaker 1: for Steve Nash. Please. This man's about to get fired.
Speaker 1: I said it now, this leekue. We are having an
Speaker 1: All Star game in Atlanta, a COVID hot spot in
Speaker 1: the middle of a fucking pandemic with fans not surprisingly,
Speaker 1: players are not super excited about it. In fact, I
Speaker 1: would say no one is excited about it. Not find
Speaker 1: a single positive statement about it on record. Actually, you
Speaker 1: have multiple players deciding fuck it. I might get fined
Speaker 1: by the NBA, but I'm going to drag them for
Speaker 1: this terrible, terrible decision. Dearreon. Fox says, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be brutally honest. This is this is dumb,
Speaker 1: this is stupid. Lebron said, I have zero energy and
Speaker 1: zero excitement about playing this game. Even Jannis, who we
Speaker 1: know isn't exactly controversial, said I have absolutely no enthusiasm
Speaker 1: about playing in this game. And of course because we
Speaker 1: have a Yoda in the league who barely ever speaks,
Speaker 1: but when he does, it's always telling truths. The best
Speaker 1: one came from Kawhi, who is now the profit of
Speaker 1: the NBA. Play the clip.
Speaker 6: It is what it is at this point. I mean,
Speaker 6: we all know why we're playing it. You know, is
Speaker 6: money on the line. It's opportunity to make more money.
Speaker 6: Mean just putting money over health right now so much.
Speaker 6: But yeah, I mean, if we're playing games now and
Speaker 6: it's still a pandemic, doing all these protocols and reals,
Speaker 6: so it doesn't really surprise me.
Speaker 1: Wow, he said, it's money over health, so it really
Speaker 1: doesn't surprise me. Yikes. And you know it's bad when
Speaker 1: even the NBA coaches are jumping in the mix, like
Speaker 1: Mike Mullan's like, personally, I would rather maybe kind of
Speaker 1: sort of want to stay with my family. This NBA
Speaker 1: season is packed as it is, Like, maybe we should
Speaker 1: just have a bye week. This seems like a bad,
Speaker 1: bad idea. It seems like almost every single person thinks
Speaker 1: this is a bad idea, except for one. Chris Paul,
Speaker 1: the end BPA president. What did he say about this
Speaker 1: growing revolt.
Speaker 4: I've got it right here, he said, Uh, I'm sure
Speaker 4: I'm not the only guy in the league that lives
Speaker 4: without their family.
Speaker 1: Hold on pause.
Speaker 4: That is a shot keep going, it is, uh, And
Speaker 4: so guys look at that break as an opportunity to
Speaker 4: see their families. It's a lot of different things going
Speaker 4: on right now. But you just hope that guys understand
Speaker 4: that decisions are being made, especially as far as the
Speaker 4: union has always got the full body of players in mind.
Speaker 4: But emotions happen. Guys have feelings, and you've got to
Speaker 4: be able to.
Speaker 2: Express them, and I respect that.
Speaker 1: Yes, the NBPA has the full body of players in mind.
Speaker 1: Oh yes, the All Star Game is the conduit to
Speaker 1: feed the blue collar players in the league. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: this is for them. This is for any other reason,
Speaker 1: but for them. This is philanthropy in action. How dare
Speaker 1: Yannie try to take the food off the table of
Speaker 1: lugent stort. This is how we spread the wealth of
Speaker 1: the bench mob. The Mason Plumleys of the world wouldn't
Speaker 1: be able to eat if it wasn't for the NBA
Speaker 1: All Star Game, if it wasn't for Quavo versus Jimmy Kimmel.
Speaker 1: Thank you Chris Paul for that needed perspective about why
Speaker 1: the All Star Game is here in the middle of
Speaker 1: an unprecedented pandemic.
Speaker 4: I mean, how else is Dennis Smith Junior gonna find
Speaker 4: porn stars? I mean without the All Star weekend? Big fat,
Speaker 4: Let's think about it.
Speaker 1: He should have said that. First of all, what I'd
Speaker 1: like to say is, Chris Paul, is that James Harden
Speaker 1: is a personal friend of mine and former teammate, and
Speaker 1: he loves Atlanta, so we're doing this for him. The
Speaker 1: NBA is just going to do anything to play this game,
Speaker 1: they though, no matter what, have now been put on
Speaker 1: notice by one of the most likable players in Karl
Speaker 1: Anthony Towns, but also the most respected as it relates
Speaker 1: to this topic because he's been the most impacted by
Speaker 1: So it started when he just lit him up flames fire,
Speaker 1: almost to the point where I was like, ooh, maybe
Speaker 1: they won't even have this. It started when Sham's reported
Speaker 1: that Carl Anthony Towns was playing two nights ago, even
Speaker 1: though Kitty Kat had been out for a solid month
Speaker 1: due to COVID complications. So he found out on Twitter
Speaker 1: he was playing against the Clippers, and it appears to
Speaker 1: be It appeared to be a surprise to everyone, especially
Speaker 1: Karl Anthony Towns, who tweeted out, this is news to me.
Speaker 1: Last time I checked. I was going to go through
Speaker 1: shoot around and see how I feel. Underlying conditions and
Speaker 1: COVID don't mix well. Like, hey, uh, I'm a like,
Speaker 1: this is my decision? What do you mean? So to
Speaker 1: top it off, they asked him after he played a
Speaker 1: full thirty one minutes, hey, can you give us your
Speaker 1: take on You knew that they were about to like
Speaker 1: put ghastline on the fire. They're asking Karl Anthony Towns
Speaker 1: when his COVID take is on the All Star Game,
Speaker 1: and he says, I don't personally believe that there should
Speaker 1: be an All Star Game, And then there was a long,
Speaker 1: dead pan silence and he says, but what do I know?
Speaker 1: What experience have I had with COVID?
Speaker 2: Nikes damn.
Speaker 1: For those who don't know, Karl Anthony Towns has lost
Speaker 1: seven members of his family to COVID, including his fifty
Speaker 1: eight year old mom. His own experience put him out
Speaker 1: for a solid month, missed thirteen games due to those complications.
Speaker 1: He said, COVID did not treat me well whatsoever. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think it treats anyone well. A lot of
Speaker 1: scary nights. Through all the long nights, I was just
Speaker 1: not feeling well whatsoever. My vitals weren't good and the
Speaker 1: decisions had to be made on my health. So wow,
Speaker 1: the NBA is going to tell players like Karl Anthony
Speaker 1: Towns that they have to play in the middle of
Speaker 1: a pandemic. They're gonna find players if they don't feel
Speaker 1: comfortable playing in an exhibition game. And as Dearon Fox said,
Speaker 1: the fine is quite hefty if you don't play, So
Speaker 1: the show is gonna go on. I am personally sickened. Uh,
Speaker 1: and I am almost certain that this weekend is going
Speaker 1: to happen, even though players think it's a terrible idea.
Speaker 1: But what's the craziest part is that fans and players like,
Speaker 1: no one gives a fuck about this game. No, no one,
Speaker 1: no one's gonna watch. Players don't give a shit. Fans
Speaker 1: do not give a shit. No one, frankly in general
Speaker 1: likes the All Star Game as a whole.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's what I was kind of saying. I don't
Speaker 4: give a shit about the All Star Game, like under
Speaker 4: normal circumstances where the actual game, I like All Star Saturday,
Speaker 4: but the actual game, who gives a fuck?
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just gonna be an opportunity for us to
Speaker 1: all shit talk how terrible it is, why it shouldn't
Speaker 1: be happening, and probably some great memes in the process.
Speaker 1: The Dark Contest hasn't been relevant consistently in twenty years.
Speaker 1: It's been on life support. The only reason it's not
Speaker 1: completely dead is because of Zach Lavine and Aaron Gordon. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Rising Stars game, the Taco Bell skills challenge, Rachel
Speaker 1: Tameeta versus Spice Adams crossing up like oh like, no
Speaker 1: one cares about that.
Speaker 2: I like Rachel.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, you can find her on TikTok. You don't
Speaker 1: need a freaking All Star weekend for this. An all
Speaker 1: Star game during COVID, This, folks, is a money grab.
Speaker 1: If you didn't know that the NBA did not care
Speaker 1: about the health and safety of their players because of
Speaker 1: the season happening the way that it has, you now
Speaker 1: know it. With this exhibition game is sad where we
Speaker 1: are money over health. Like I said last episode four
Speaker 1: hundred dms, all with very cocent, sort of flame related
Speaker 1: NBA questions. So let's get into.
Speaker 2: Them, got you? Okay? Number one?
Speaker 4: Are the Hornets ever going to be a reputable organization?
Speaker 1: That's such a loaded question, isn't it. I mean I
Speaker 1: think that they are right now, what we're seeing is
Speaker 1: sort of Ah, you don't believe it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm excited to hear what I guess.
Speaker 1: Reputable is sort of relative. I mean, they have been
Speaker 1: so bad for so long and such a disgrace and
Speaker 1: so embarrassing and throwing away their their like player you
Speaker 1: would want to have for your dynasty. Well, I guess
Speaker 1: what you would ever call your your franchise player. Dynasty
Speaker 1: is way too loose off a term you got rid
Speaker 1: of Kimba, and then everyone thought this would never ever
Speaker 1: be anything. And then all of a sudden, you made
Speaker 1: some moves. Right, You've got LaMelo now he love Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's opening up Gordon Hayward. That move was I would
Speaker 1: say stunning. Terry Rozierra's balling, DeVante Graham doesn't have to
Speaker 1: play hero ball anymore. Now, Miles Bridges is taking another step.
Speaker 1: I mean, they've got pieces. And on top of that,
Speaker 1: players that were busts have now become serviceable. PJ. Washington,
Speaker 1: Malik Monk have had tremendous games this season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Monk played really well the other night.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So you've got a team that is the NBA
Speaker 1: League Pass Team of the Year. So I would say
Speaker 1: that's reputable. That's much better than an embarrassment. So on
Speaker 1: a night tonight basis, you talk about betting, this team's
Speaker 1: insane against the spread. You take them almost every single
Speaker 1: time besides two nights ago or it was just like,
Speaker 1: let's not talk about that game. I think what you're
Speaker 1: doing is recency bias, Marty. They've been great. They've been great.
Speaker 4: I mean they are a great league pass team. And
Speaker 4: if that's the bar, then yeah, they're reputable.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's move.
Speaker 2: I like it. Okay.
Speaker 4: So next up we have who would you rather have?
Speaker 4: Darren Fox, Colin Sexton or Jah Morant.
Speaker 1: What a great question, huh that is? I love these questions.
Speaker 1: Couldn't ask for more exciting players to compare five years
Speaker 1: from now. I would say these three dudes are gonna
Speaker 1: be I don't know about faces of the league, but
Speaker 1: they're gonna be the stars that people are talking about
Speaker 1: for sure every day. If you were to ask me
Speaker 1: this question, I would probably give you a different response.
Speaker 2: Yeah, totally.
Speaker 1: And you've got guys like Colin Sexton that he calls
Speaker 1: himself the young bull and the issue with young bulls
Speaker 1: as they sometimes are balls in a china shop and
Speaker 1: break a bunch of shit, and that is that's Colin Sexton.
Speaker 1: Some games utterly unstoppable and then some games he has
Speaker 1: like ten turnovers and fourteen points, like not ideal. Jaw
Speaker 1: can be the same way times that he's the best
Speaker 1: player on the court no matter who's up against him,
Speaker 1: doing things on both sides of the floor, incredibly gifted,
Speaker 1: athletically clutch. And then there's other games where it's like, yo, jah,
Speaker 1: you are completely out of control. You just threw that
Speaker 1: ball into the stance to no one. Your teammates are
Speaker 1: not there. Okay, but Fox Fox has I don't know,
Speaker 1: a calmness, a coolness even when he's not playing well,
Speaker 1: he's never quite I don't know, out of control that
Speaker 1: same way. He's been in the league obviously longer. But
Speaker 1: I think right now, even though I change my mind
Speaker 1: on recency bias, Darren Fox is like much more consistent,
Speaker 1: often just unguardable. I think the other night he had
Speaker 1: like seventeen straight points in the final seven minutes of
Speaker 1: a game, just takes completely over. I think that was
Speaker 1: against the Pelicans, puts his team on his back. The
Speaker 1: Sacramento Kings are fun and winning mostly because because of
Speaker 1: dear Fox. Sexton against the Nets is kind of like Deren,
Speaker 1: But but Dieren does it much more often, I would say,
Speaker 1: and in more high pressure games than those other two.
Speaker 2: Yeah, those good Fox games are really awesome.
Speaker 1: And they just keep coming more and more and more.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Okay, switch into Wings. Next up, we have Tatum
Speaker 4: or Doncic.
Speaker 1: You would consider doncicch wing.
Speaker 2: Oh, I just read the first one in my bed. Okay,
Speaker 2: Tatum or Doncic.
Speaker 1: Because that was exactly what my point where my point
Speaker 1: was going. Okay, because I would take an elite wing
Speaker 1: over an elite point guard any day. I like them both.
Speaker 1: I really like Luca. I think there's a part of
Speaker 1: me that calls him a professional stat getter, like doesn't
Speaker 1: get buckets in all of the right moments. But the
Speaker 1: truth is, I think for you to be a franchise
Speaker 1: that can go deep, you don't have to have you
Speaker 1: don't have to have like a top point guard anymore.
Speaker 1: And if you have a top point guard that it
Speaker 1: does not mean you're gonna go deep. Ask CJ. McCollum
Speaker 1: and Damian Lillard. Like, our ceiling is now the Western
Speaker 1: Conference Finals and that's about as good as it gets.
Speaker 1: So I think you need an elite wing in order
Speaker 1: to go deep. It's the most rare position. If you
Speaker 1: had the money and you could spend it, I think
Speaker 1: you spend it on Tatum over Daunches. I think you
Speaker 1: could get like a Seth Curry and a Tatum and
Speaker 1: do much better. Than you could get a Doncic and
Speaker 1: some scrub on the wing. I think that's just facts.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, I would say that Tatum
Speaker 1: just has more skills than Luca does. Right now, he
Speaker 1: has a mid range game. He can pull up with
Speaker 1: one dribble, two dribble, he has mid range step back.
Speaker 1: He's a better defender. Right now, we've seen Tatum be
Speaker 1: the best player on a team that can go. We've
Speaker 1: seen him take Lebron James to the brink seven games.
Speaker 1: I think Tatum is probably a better tone setter. I
Speaker 1: don't know. I like Luca. He has flashes, but uh,
Speaker 1: but to me, it's just not close. Really, I know
Speaker 1: this is gonna be get me flamed. This is one
Speaker 1: of those things where it's like, oh, Tristan doesn't watch basketball.
Speaker 1: Oh this girl why she's talking about sports? And it's
Speaker 1: like no, Like this is a cogent fucking argument. Jason
Speaker 1: Tatum's a top four player as a wing and a
Speaker 1: top ten player overall. I don't know if I could
Speaker 1: say the same about Luca. And on top of that,
Speaker 1: on top of that, don't want a fat shame, don't
Speaker 1: want a fat shame. But Luca comes into camp fluffy.
Speaker 1: I've never seen that out of Jason Tatum, so that
Speaker 1: gives me some concerns in terms of Luca's work ethic
Speaker 1: long term overall as well. You don't like what do
Speaker 1: you think?
Speaker 4: I probably agree with you right now, Like now you
Speaker 4: have to take Tatum. Luca has shown some things this
Speaker 4: year that are kind kind of red flags. I still,
Speaker 4: honestly if you said take one now and start a
Speaker 4: team with, I think I'm going Luca.
Speaker 2: I think I'm taking the home run swing.
Speaker 1: Yeah. He has a lot of upside. Yeah, yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean his sky's the limit upside. But I am a
Speaker 1: cynic and I take a sure thing every time, and
Speaker 1: I think Tatum is a sure thing.
Speaker 4: I would love for him to be bad so people
Speaker 4: would stop making fun of us for not drafting him.
Speaker 1: That'd be great you got eight and instead of him. Huh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that more.
Speaker 2: I like it a lot lately.
Speaker 4: Okay, So next one is should the Raptors trade Lowry?
Speaker 4: And then another question Lowry to the heat question.
Speaker 1: Mark if the Raptors were smart they traded Lowry yesterday. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's over in Tampa Bay. We'll call it's over in
Speaker 1: Tampa Bay slash Toronto. They are not going anywhere. They
Speaker 1: are obviously not going to contend. Things are not working.
Speaker 1: Kyle Lowry's making a shitload of money. The Heat are
Speaker 1: in a death viral. So I would say Kyle Lowry
Speaker 1: to the Heat makes a lot of sense. He has
Speaker 1: one more year after this on his contract. He is
Speaker 1: perfect fit for the Heat culture. Great pat Riley guy
Speaker 1: like Yeah, Kyle Lowry is a hard nose or he
Speaker 1: does the little things, loves to work, loves to take
Speaker 1: a charge. That is him and dragas is just I
Speaker 1: don't I don't know where he is his ankle, his leg,
Speaker 1: his arm, I don't know.
Speaker 2: I think I think we've seen the end.
Speaker 1: I think he's what. He's thirty something.
Speaker 4: He's old, which is weird to me, old man as
Speaker 4: a former son, he is old.
Speaker 1: I think, Riley, you take that deal. The Heat are
Speaker 1: not particularly interested in paying a lot of money to
Speaker 1: any particular player, but for a year in change, I
Speaker 1: think they would. I think that they automatically become much
Speaker 1: better with Kyle Lowry in the mix, and Jimmy Butler
Speaker 1: should not be to pull this team out of the
Speaker 1: depths of hell when they only have like seven or
Speaker 1: eight guys through the COVID protocol at any given time.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I think I think if you can get
Speaker 1: to the finals again or at least like have a
Speaker 1: reasonable shot to you do that now. And Kyle Lowry
Speaker 1: already put his home up for sale in Toronto, so
Speaker 1: I think he knows that the tea leaves are there
Speaker 1: as well.
Speaker 4: Okay, do you see the Cavs as a playoff team
Speaker 4: within three years? And then this guy said, big fan
Speaker 4: love the show, thank.
Speaker 1: You, thank you. That's such a nice thing to say.
Speaker 1: Too many trolls out there. So good news, bad news
Speaker 1: in Cleveland. The bad news is Kevin Love is making
Speaker 1: a lot of money and he's locked up until the
Speaker 1: end of time. He's locked up till twenty twenty four.
Speaker 2: I think, so yeah, I think you're right.
Speaker 1: Yep. Larry Nance Junior also locked up till twenty twenty four.
Speaker 1: Not players that are, we'll call it additive to a franchise,
Speaker 1: kind of in a tough spot. But the good news
Speaker 1: is Drummond comes off at the end of this year
Speaker 1: and he's making twenty eight million. And then you also
Speaker 1: have some scrap change. So there's like three other guys
Speaker 1: that come off the books. You have like thirty seven
Speaker 1: thirty eight million dollars to spend. I think they could.
Speaker 1: The way that I think that they become a playoff
Speaker 1: team within three years is this year they go after Oladipo.
Speaker 1: You pay him twenty something million, you have another ten
Speaker 1: million to spend. You've got Sergebaca making ten and change.
Speaker 1: If you had Sergabaca, Victor Oladipo, sex Land, Colin Sexton,
Speaker 1: Darius Garland, that is a playoff team for sure.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And then Kevin Loved after he has his honeymoon, he
Speaker 1: gets healthy and he starts doing things. I think absolutely
Speaker 1: that's a seven seed, eight seed team.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I really like the way Jared Allen's playing for
Speaker 2: him too.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I wonder he comes off the books too, So
Speaker 1: I don't know if they're going to keep him or
Speaker 1: what they're going to do. He would be a great
Speaker 1: a player to keep around. So yeah, I would say
Speaker 1: that team with that roster. I don't know if you
Speaker 1: can attract that level of talent to Cleveland. That's tough,
Speaker 1: but it would be fun times in Cleveland if that
Speaker 1: were to happen. Fun times cland today I just wanted
Speaker 1: to add, come.
Speaker 2: On down to Cleveland Town.
Speaker 1: Everyone, come in. It should be the pay that's prepared
Speaker 1: near the street. Okay, well that's all the time that
Speaker 1: we have for this Leak podcast. Please subscribe, please rate,
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