WEBVTT - EPISODE 16: All things Ja, All-NBA guards, and deep thoughts with Dame 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:04.360 Welcome to this weegue uncut in the world of twenty 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:17.119 four NBA news. Chris Haynes works te it's time this 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:21.959 ligue uncut is underway. Then fire it should be a 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:28.520 good one. Hello friends, thanks for joining us for a 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.800 sure to be good one. A new episode of this 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:35.479 League Uncut. Mark Stein and Chris Haynes back with you. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:41.479 Before we get into the newsy stuff, I need to 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:46.479 hear your NCAA tournament regimen. Uh. My Cal State Fullerton 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:50.159 Titans fell one game, Shy of the tournament made it 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.800 last year, fell one game. Shy lost the Big West 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:55.440 title game to Santa Barbara, which would have been our 0:00:55.560 --> 0:01:00.200 third trip in the last five Big West tournaments, which 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.800 which we're not used to going that often. So even 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:08.000 having gone twice in the last twice since twenty eighteen, 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.680 UH is huge for us. So, but my season ends 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:16.160 when the Titan season ends. Are you watching the NCAA 0:01:16.319 --> 0:01:19.840 tournament closely or like? What is uh? How do you 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.679 how do you approach March madness? No, to ask your question, 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.759 I'm not. I'm not watching right now. When it gets 0:01:26.800 --> 0:01:31.240 to the sweet sixteen, That's when I'll start paying attention. 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:35.240 But I don't you know, I don't have a routine 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:40.120 of feeling out a bracket. I probably I've probably done 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:45.240 that twice, and I that might be a stress. I'm 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:47.920 talking about my whole life. Probably done it twice, feeling 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:51.160 out a bracket. I'm not big into it until it 0:01:51.240 --> 0:01:55.760 gets to the final stages of the tournament. So um, 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:59.000 I just never been you know, it takes for me, 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.000 you know, just a fan of basketball. I've always been 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.160 that way, even before covering the league. It takes for 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.920 me to to know some household names. You know, there's, there's. 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.280 The college is not like it was anymore. I think 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:15.760 a household name now was just a you know, a 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:21.800 top three pick potentially playing one year. And you you know, 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:25.680 Zion Williamson. He was probably the last guy that I 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.399 pretty much paid attention to because there was so much 0:02:28.440 --> 0:02:30.880 buzz of him in high school. But it's not like, 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:33.320 you know, like it was back you know when I 0:02:33.360 --> 0:02:35.640 was in high school. You know, I graduated two thousand, 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.160 so you know, I grew up Grant Hill. You know, 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:43.200 that's early junior high for me, Grant Hill. But you know, 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.760 these guys that you got to see for two, three, 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.520 four years and they built, they built a resume and 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.880 built the following, and it's just it just has hasn't 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:55.560 been like that for a while, and I don't think 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.000 it ever get back to that point. Not to say 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:01.160 that that's bad, but just for me, I just haven't 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:04.920 followed college closely since the landscape kind of changed. You know, 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:07.560 I wasn't planning to go further in this direction, but 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:09.920 as usual, your answer kind of steers me somewhere that 0:03:09.960 --> 0:03:12.240 I didn't think we would end up, but now that 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.799 I think about it, Like I wear my fandom on 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:19.960 my sleeve so much, cal State, Fullerton, Manchester City, the 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:24.400 Buffalo Sabers, Tennis, Like I'm I mean, you you know 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.760 pretty well like all the things that I'm a fan of, 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:30.880 But I just like I don't know any of your 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:34.680 fan Like are you a Fresno State fan because you 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:38.800 grew up there? Or like, I don't really know, I've 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:41.400 never seen you in fan mode now that I think 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:45.960 about it, Oh fam oh, I'm not. Look, I don't 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:50.320 have a When I was growing up, I like the 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:54.360 forty nine ers from Fresno, California. If anybody doesn't know 0:03:54.480 --> 0:03:57.200 by now, but I grew up watching the forty nine Ers. 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.120 Jerry Rice was my favorite player. Then at certain point 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:04.240 Terrell Owens became my favorite player. And I followed Terrell 0:04:04.320 --> 0:04:06.800 Owens when he went to the Niners, then went to 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.240 the Eagles, then went to the Cowboys, and then unfortunately 0:04:10.240 --> 0:04:13.240 when he went to the Bengals, and so I've never 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.039 been at then my NBA team. Look, I was a 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:18.440 big Jordan fan. I wasn't a big Jordan fan. I 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.680 can't say I was a big Chicago Bulls fan, but 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:24.760 a big Jordan fan. But Stein that window when he 0:04:25.000 --> 0:04:30.520 retired for the first time and went on his high 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:34.679 as to play baseball again. Being from Fresno, we didn't 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:38.960 get Laker games on TV. We got Warriors games. And 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:43.280 that was the time when Latrelle Spreewell emerged with the 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:48.039 Warriors and started balling out. And I remember I became 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:50.279 a Spreewell fan because he had the ball head looked 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:53.960 similar to Jordan. He and we got all their games. 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:55.920 We got all the Warriors games, and this one the 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.200 Warriors that were bad. We got all the Warriors games 0:04:59.200 --> 0:05:01.240 and I fell in love the trust free Well, so 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:03.440 similar to La trust Spruo when he got into his 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.200 trouble at Golden State, I followed him to New York, 0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.760 then I followed him to Minnesota. And so I've never 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:14.120 been a real fan of a team per se. And 0:05:14.400 --> 0:05:16.719 just like with college, like I graduated from Fredlin State, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:19.760 you know I'll root for them, but you know, I 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:23.919 can't say my college fandom to my alma materate is 0:05:24.320 --> 0:05:28.159 anywhere on par to how you feel about your cow 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:32.240 State Fullest. Now I'm glad. Actually I didn't know that 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.520 spree well stuff, And now I'm glad I resisted tweeting 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.839 over the weekend when because we had Fulirton had a 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:40.840 tough road in the Big West Tournament. We had to 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:43.279 beat Hawaii for the third time this season. It's never 0:05:43.320 --> 0:05:45.120 easy to beat a team three times in a row. 0:05:45.200 --> 0:05:49.039 Then we beat top seeded UC Irvine, our hated rivals, 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:54.039 and after that game, I was gonna tweet Fullerton star 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:58.520 player is Latrelle right Cell. I was gonna do Latrelle 0:05:58.560 --> 0:06:01.160 right Cell greater than Trell Sprewell. I was going to 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:03.839 treat that tweet. I was going to tweet that. But 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:05.440 now I'm glad I didn't because you would have been 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:11.920 mad at me. If I good calls, good call, then 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.200 I showed a little bit of restraint. All right, let's 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:16.800 get to the real deal. Let's get to the serious stuff. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:23.120 The NBA announces this week that John Morant eight games 0:06:23.200 --> 0:06:28.039 suspension for the incident at the nightclub in Colorado. He's 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:32.640 already missed six games. The NBA decides that those six 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:36.240 games factor in, so he's eligible to return Monday. The league. 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:39.120 I'll readdirect from the league statement here. The league office 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:43.479 conducted an investigation of the March fourth incident. Based on 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.360 the information obtained during the investigation, the league did not 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:51.479 conclude that the gun at issue belonged to Morant, was 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:54.520 brought by him into the nightclub or was displayed by 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.520 him beyond a brief period. The investigation also did not 0:06:58.680 --> 0:07:01.760 find that Morant possessed the gun while traveling with the 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:06.120 team or in any NBA facility, and the Colorado authorities 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.960 did not find sufficient cause to charge Morant with the crime. 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:14.679 All of that is in the NBA's release for pretty 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:19.680 obvious reasons. They you know, had any of that happened, 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:24.480 what the league laid out there, had this been considered 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:29.040 a gun that job possessed or that he brought while 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:32.360 traveling with the team, or brought in the facility. The implication, 0:07:32.400 --> 0:07:35.440 of course, is that the penalty would have been much 0:07:35.480 --> 0:07:40.920 more severe at eight game penalty, kind of in line 0:07:40.960 --> 0:07:46.760 with other situations in the past where those violations were 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:51.120 not committed. Again, if the gun goes into an NBA facility, 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:54.680 you know, I was incorrect when I recently stated there 0:07:54.760 --> 0:07:57.520 is a hard and fast rule in the league rules. 0:07:57.520 --> 0:08:00.960 There is no hard and fast rule. But you know, obviously, 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:04.000 I think everyone remembers what happened in the Gilbert Arena 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:08.960 situation when guns were in the Wizard's facility. So eight 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:11.520 game suspension in the end, I don't think we'll see 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:15.040 job Bunday against Dallas. Taylor Jenkins, the Grizzlies coach, has 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:19.760 basically said that. So we will see John Morant back 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:23.920 at some point, probably next week. The Grizzlies are going 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:28.480 to get him back for the stretch run and really 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:30.280 then all eyes are going to be on John Morant 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:32.960 and like what he does from here. But you know, 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:36.120 I think given the gravity of this situation, you know, 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:41.040 for the Grizzlies, this probably ended up. You know, I 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:43.640 don't think best case scenario is the right verbiage here, 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:46.080 but for this to only be eight games, and to 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.199 get him back before the regular season, and to get 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.760 a chance to try to bring him back into their team. 0:08:51.240 --> 0:08:53.600 I'm sure the Grizzlies are relieved on a lot of levels. 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:57.720 I well, I guess I would take it a step 0:08:57.760 --> 0:09:00.240 further style. I do believe this is the basic best 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.280 case scenario. I do. I understand that they've been struggling 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.959 without them, which that was expected, and you don't want 0:09:07.960 --> 0:09:10.720 to miss any time down the stretch with your best 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.640 player being out. But considering the alternative, what could have 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:21.960 happened if the NBA or law enforcement were to find 0:09:22.080 --> 0:09:26.440 that he did bring that gun into the club, or 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.960 that gun was well brought on to NBA premises, such 0:09:31.000 --> 0:09:35.840 as a chartered flight. You know that we don't know. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.040 I don't know if we would see John Morant again 0:09:38.120 --> 0:09:43.240 this season. So, with all that being said, was I surprised? 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:48.160 I wasn't surprised by I wasn't surprised by the last 0:09:48.160 --> 0:09:49.439 I thought it would be a little large. I thought 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.880 it would be at least in even ten games. What 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:56.920 I was surprised is that they counted the games already. 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:03.720 I was surprised by that because they never nobody's ever 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.000 came out Grizzlies or the league and said that those 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.240 games were considered a suspension. It was a you know, 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.760 he had to get away and handle some business. So 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:18.280 I was surprised with that. But with all that being said, 0:10:18.600 --> 0:10:22.640 Jazz as a right now he's in the clear. There's 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.319 been a lot going. You know, there's been two players 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.760 that we've talked about this season when when we're talking 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:32.800 about off the court matters, it's been Kyrie Irving and 0:10:32.800 --> 0:10:37.560 has been John Morant. And so now, JA, are you 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:40.280 gonna be able to stop that? You know, these things 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:46.960 have kept incidents a large incidents have been problematic, and 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:52.360 they've been serious. They've been really serious. And so I'm 0:10:52.400 --> 0:11:00.160 hoping that he really took the time to just focus 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:05.800 on himself and look inside himself and try to get 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:08.440 a gist of what's going on, what's happening, Why is 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:11.679 he acting out this way? Why why are you conducting 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.760 yourself in this manner? And because I want to see 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.679 him thrive, you know, as brother, I want to see 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:19.640 him thrive on the court. I want to see him 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.280 thrive off the court again, man, I got nothing but 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:27.320 love for his pop tea, uncle Phil over There many 0:11:27.400 --> 0:11:30.360 they're they're really good people, really good people, and so 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:35.480 they gotta they gotta conduct themselves in a better fashion 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:40.240 moving forward. So again I've seen some people say, well, 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:44.200 it wasn't long enough. You know. Now jis saying he's 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:47.040 he's all right now and he's seemed the light. I 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:50.000 hope so. I don't know, I hope so, But only time, 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:52.240 only his actions can prove it. I think he knows that, 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:55.120 you know, he gave the interview with Jalen Rose. But 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.560 I you know, I think it's fair to say people 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:00.720 are not gonna spend too much time dwelling on what 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:04.840 he says and really what he does from here. I mean, 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.040 and look, you know, I don't want to be ultra 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:12.480 ultra cynical about this, but you know, coming back before 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:15.920 the end of the season is a huge thing for 0:12:16.000 --> 0:12:21.040 Job personally, because the reality is there's money on the line. 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:26.760 I mean, he if he's not an All NBA player 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:33.640 this season, it's it's approaches forty million dollars, the difference 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.640 between the max cott, the value of his max contract 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:42.120 that will start next season, whether he's selected All NBA 0:12:42.240 --> 0:12:44.840 this season or not. And there is already there is 0:12:45.000 --> 0:12:50.480 so much competition at guard I had, I had a 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.000 lot of names scribbled. I know I'm missing some now 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:54.960 because of course I can't find that page where I 0:12:55.000 --> 0:13:02.160 scribbled it. But Luca Fox, Sga Donovan, Mitchell, Steph Um, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:05.280 you know, Devin Booker with games missed, probably not going 0:13:05.360 --> 0:13:08.920 to be contending for a guard spot in terms of 0:13:08.920 --> 0:13:10.680 All NBA. But like I said, I know I'm missing 0:13:10.760 --> 0:13:14.240 some names. I mean, there definitely definitely missing one name. 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:18.320 Fix it for me because I'm I'm old and dumb. Yeah, dame. 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:22.680 So I mean, there's a it is very crowded in 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:26.520 the backcourt and very conceivable that even if John Morant 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:30.360 comes back now and plays really well, that he won't 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.960 get one of those six guard slots on the All 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:38.120 NBA team, And it will be hugely, hugely costly for 0:13:38.200 --> 0:13:41.679 him if that doesn't happen. So you know, he now 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.400 at least gets that opportunity. I don't know if there's 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.679 enough time because again, you know, all those names. The 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:52.720 guard competition, it's a complicated calculation in the West because 0:13:52.760 --> 0:13:56.080 it's not just your stats and the talent, but a 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.480 lot of guys miss games. You know, Steph's missed a 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:00.880 lot of games as well. But you know, Steph is 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.760 playing ridiculous basketball this season, so should he be an 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:11.560 All NBA guy? You know, the Boston between Tatum and Brown, 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:13.600 I think Tatum will end up a front court player, 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.560 but Brown could be considered a backcourt player. Uh. You know, 0:14:16.720 --> 0:14:18.880 positions are a little bit more flexible in the All 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:20.920 NBA talk. So I mean that, you know, we can 0:14:21.000 --> 0:14:23.720 go on and on and on listing names. I just 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:25.800 don't know if he's going to get there. And you know, 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.280 beyond beyond just the mere finances of it. You know, 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:31.480 Memphis is trying to lock up a number two seed 0:14:31.640 --> 0:14:35.240 and so we'll see if his return now is there 0:14:35.240 --> 0:14:37.640 are enough time to do that? And you know, will 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.240 the Grizzlies start playing well? The Grizzlies look more like 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.920 they did in the first half of the season. I'm 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:47.400 trying to see how many your games Grizzlies have left. 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:51.760 They have. Let me see, they got twelve games left 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:55.480 in the season. John Morant has played in fifty three. 0:14:56.680 --> 0:15:00.600 He's going to miss let me see the next three 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.680 for sure. Yeah, because basically Taylor Jenkins has said that 0:15:03.520 --> 0:15:07.560 he will not be playing Monday against Dallas. He'll barely 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:11.040 approach sixty games. But look, so many guys are in 0:15:11.080 --> 0:15:14.120 that position. I mean Lucas now missing a lot of games. 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:18.880 S GA steph uh, you know where? What do we 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:20.640 do with deer and fix Deer? And Fox has to 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.240 be an all NBA player with the way Sacramento is 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.280 the season they've had in the clutch play, he's delivered. 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.160 So I mean it all right, hold on, hold on, 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:31.800 let's let's let's not let's not run from it. Then 0:15:37.680 --> 0:15:39.440 let's go take your head on. You said he has 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.560 to be this, this, this is a tough let's go. 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.680 Let's go. Let's do it. Let's do it right now. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.640 Hold on, you want to start, want to you want 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:51.800 to nail down six guards on March sixteenth, I'm gonna. 0:15:51.840 --> 0:15:53.920 I'm gonna. I can. I think I can nail down 0:15:54.080 --> 0:15:55.920 some guys that are gonna be in it for sure. 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.240 We don't forget anybody. Hold on, hold on, let me 0:15:59.080 --> 0:16:01.000 let me go, let me go. Hold on, We're gonna 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:03.560 do this. Let's not run from it. Let's go. Hold 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:09.040 over here. So I think I think Luca is a 0:16:09.080 --> 0:16:13.560 lock for first team. I think Dame is a lock 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:20.240 for first team. Man, I can't even use the word locks. 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:24.160 I'm I'm willing to say they're among the six. But okay, 0:16:24.200 --> 0:16:25.920 all right, let's stop this, let's stop. Let let me, 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:28.200 let me, let me stop that. There. They're among the 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.680 They're guaranteed among the six. Luca and Dame. Can we 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:37.400 agree on that, Mitchell? Okay, I think Donovan Mitchell, Yes, yes, 0:16:37.640 --> 0:16:40.040 I put him in that boat. That's three. I think 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.640 Sga gets gets in there as well. So so so 0:16:44.640 --> 0:16:47.960 far me and you are on agreement that these four 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.840 are locks to get in the top six. All right. 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:58.280 From there, you got John Morant dearon Fox. You may 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.440 you may be right right, I mean, Jay the Brown 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.120 is right now to be in the conversation. I think 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.600 Book has probably missed too many games. But I mean 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.560 when he plays, he's yeah, he's an All NBA player, 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:13.200 But I mean, I mean Books missed how many games? 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:16.680 Is he? I mean he's missed half the season. Yeah. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:21.360 I think for those final two guard spots, you've got 0:17:21.440 --> 0:17:29.960 Jalen Brown deeron Fox and John Moran Anthony Anthony Edwards. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.960 That's what I'm saying, Like, when you don't have the 0:17:32.000 --> 0:17:34.119 listener in front of you, it is easy to miss. 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:38.080 Anthony Edwards. I mean, he's been Minnesota's best player. Like 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.120 that's the thing that it is super crowded. So that's 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.080 why when you're sitting there going, let's lock this in, 0:17:43.480 --> 0:17:47.399 let's do it right now. Okay, hold on, hold on, 0:17:47.440 --> 0:17:50.720 hold on, and then then one more name we gotta mention. 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.160 So we mentioned four right there for those two spots. 0:17:55.960 --> 0:18:01.760 Um Jaylen Brown, Deeron Fox, John Moran, Anthony Edwards. Don't 0:18:01.760 --> 0:18:04.600 forget Stephen Curry. I mean Steph has you know, Steph 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.920 smissed twenty six games, but when he's been on the floor, 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:12.560 he's been ridiculous. Then there's guys like you know, Haliburton 0:18:12.680 --> 0:18:15.080 and Brunson. You know, Brunson didn't get an All Star spot, 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:16.600 but I think they at least have to be in 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:22.560 the discussion. So like James Harden, James Harden who snubbed 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:24.359 from the All Star Game, and you know, he's had 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.480 a tremendous year, and Philly just keeps winning and winning. 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:28.840 And when it's that's that's what I'm saying. It's like, 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:31.840 if we really slow down, we can come up with 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:35.920 twelve names for six spots. The only reason I want 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:38.840 to go down that list is because you say you 0:18:38.920 --> 0:18:41.800 think Darren Fox has to get one of those six, 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.960 and I'm like, it's tough. I'm not saying he doesn't 0:18:44.960 --> 0:18:47.560 deserve it, but that's where that's where, like you know 0:18:47.640 --> 0:18:51.000 again and and it just everyone does it different. But 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:56.600 to me, Fox, you know, because they're winning so many 0:18:56.720 --> 0:19:00.560 they're winning so much more than expected. I mean, we're 0:19:00.600 --> 0:19:05.399 taping this on Thursday night. Entering Thursday Nights play Sacramento 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.480 Kings tied for the number two seed in the West, 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:11.960 but nobody expected. And yes, injuries throughout the West have 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:17.000 certainly factored in, but like his great play has has 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:20.719 has directly led to winning. So you know that is 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:23.359 that is a factor to me, And that's why I 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:25.840 think like it would be you know, it will be 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:27.960 disappointing if if Fox isn't on there you know it 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:31.080 is there room for Fox and Sabonis. Do the Kings 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:33.800 deserve two? All NBA guys, if they finished second in 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:39.600 the West, I would say yes. If they finished second 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:42.040 in the West, you will say yes. So all NBA 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.040 give me I keep forgetting the criteria. Do they require 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:48.879 that you have a center or is just three front cors? 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.280 They do require that you have a center, but they're 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:56.920 very very lenient on how you do the positions. So like, yeah, 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:02.520 la if I remember right, you know, basically, you can 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:06.119 put Yo Kitchen and Bead, or you could put Yo 0:20:06.200 --> 0:20:08.360 Kichen and Bead on the first team together when they're 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.719 both you know, when they're really both centers, you can 0:20:11.760 --> 0:20:16.399 put one in forward. Yeah, and I'm I know a 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.360 lot of people wouldn't like that, but I'm for that 0:20:19.520 --> 0:20:22.439 because in the case of Joel and Bad, didn't he 0:20:22.440 --> 0:20:26.000 experience that last year where Joker got right? And that's 0:20:26.000 --> 0:20:31.720 where so team look at the top of the MVP 0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:36.600 race and Embid it appears that embiid is inching past 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.480 Yokich after Yokich was in the lead for quite a 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:42.880 quite a while. My kind of MVP discussion has really 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:45.080 been let's just make sure we note that this is 0:20:45.119 --> 0:20:50.120 a three man race, Yokich and Bead, Yannis, the three 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.520 of them have separated themselves in the field. So let's 0:20:54.240 --> 0:20:56.360 like to have a word. Would you say if you 0:20:56.480 --> 0:21:00.679 put you could put Yannis, Yoki and b on the 0:21:00.720 --> 0:21:03.680 first team all NBA, and that probably knocks Tay him 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:06.600 off the first team. So yeah, I mean, he could 0:21:06.600 --> 0:21:11.359 get bumped out of two different conversations, which you know 0:21:11.760 --> 0:21:16.440 will enrage people in Boston and Bill Simmons. So it's 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:18.920 not it's not a it's not a perfect system. But 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.200 I don't have a problem with being able to j A. 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.960 If you're All NBA team is all centers and those 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:28.639 are the top those centers are the top five in 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:32.639 the in the MVP race, go ahead, go ahead. I 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:34.320 don't have a problem with it because I think him, 0:21:34.680 --> 0:21:37.600 I think he looks dumb personally to have a second 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.680 person that finished the second MVP ends up on second 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:44.080 or third All NBA and then Mike Mike counter to 0:21:44.119 --> 0:21:46.879 that has been this has been happening since the days 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:52.000 of Wilt and Russell. That one of Bill Russell won 0:21:52.080 --> 0:21:54.720 all the rings. But you should go back and see 0:21:54.760 --> 0:21:58.280 how many times he was bumped a second team because 0:21:58.280 --> 0:22:01.280 Wilt would get first team All NBA. So like All 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:04.000 NBA to me has you know, as long as you're 0:22:04.040 --> 0:22:07.639 on the fifteen, I mean, to me, that's generally, you know, 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:11.160 that's the that's the important thing to you know. From 0:22:11.200 --> 0:22:13.000 my vantage point, of course, I'm not one of those 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:16.679 players who would affect. But all NBA discussion has just 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:20.399 gotten so crazy because contract bonuses are tied to it. 0:22:20.440 --> 0:22:23.320 Like we said, you know, whether John Morant is one 0:22:23.320 --> 0:22:25.840 of the fifteen guys on the All NBA team at 0:22:25.880 --> 0:22:28.879 season's end, it's going to impact him in a massive, 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:32.199 massive way financially to the tune of nearly forty million dollars. 0:22:32.200 --> 0:22:36.479 So All NBA has just the discussion has gotten so 0:22:36.600 --> 0:22:39.560 much more heated because of what's on the line financially. 0:22:39.960 --> 0:22:43.199 Stut I would like to jump in right here, and 0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:48.400 we've we've received a few complaints Stin. I think it's 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:51.400 time for me to say this and address it. We've 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:56.480 received a few complaints since we launched our podcasts, and 0:22:56.640 --> 0:23:01.240 these complaints are valid. They are very valid, and the 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.679 blame is with me. I've been the problem. I've been 0:23:04.720 --> 0:23:07.159 the problem all season long. So I will say this 0:23:07.280 --> 0:23:10.320 for the people who have been complaining about this issue. 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:14.040 I hope you are enjoying this podcast because you have 0:23:14.320 --> 0:23:19.359 not experienced that issue in this episode, and I hope 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:23.359 to continue this throughout the rest of this regular season. 0:23:23.800 --> 0:23:26.240 What they what people for Stime to tell people what 0:23:26.280 --> 0:23:30.760 they've been complaining about. Stime, We've been get complaints about 0:23:30.880 --> 0:23:35.240 my fire alarm buzzer going off. What is it? It's 0:23:35.280 --> 0:23:38.440 the fire what is it called the fire alarm? Fire alarm? Yeah, 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:41.720 the fire alarm. But you know what's crez? The war 0:23:41.920 --> 0:23:45.120 is crazy? Yeah, to change your battery. But here's what's great. 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:48.640 I didn't hear. I didn't hear it at all. It 0:23:48.680 --> 0:23:53.200 was the last episode that people said, Hey guys, great pod, 0:23:53.320 --> 0:23:55.800 but be sure to change your fire alarm battery. I 0:23:55.840 --> 0:24:01.520 didn't know what the I didn't know what they're talking about. Listen, 0:24:01.640 --> 0:24:04.119 change it out, you know, you know, you know, I 0:24:04.200 --> 0:24:07.960 can't think of any other example. But I'm pretty sure 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:10.840 you can relate, and everybody else listening can relate. You know, 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:14.840 you never know there's a problem until somebody points it 0:24:14.840 --> 0:24:17.680 out to you. And then when they pointed out, then 0:24:17.720 --> 0:24:19.800 it's really a problem, like because now you notice it. 0:24:19.880 --> 0:24:24.000